A Message from the President

Dear Colleagues,

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) hosts dozens of educational and scientific meetings each year to support the primary mission of the society, which is to improve cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science and application of cancer immunotherapy. In this letter I bring to your attention this year’s interim workshops, which provide a forum to address specific important and evolving areas in our field. The workshops will focus on cancer immune responsiveness and adoptive cellular therapies and will be organized by prominent members of the immuno-oncology community, including Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD (NanoString Technologies, Inc.), Francesco M. Marincola, MD (Refuge Biotechnologies, Inc.), and Katayoun Rezvani, MD, PhD (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center).

Both multi-day programs will bring together some of the foremost experts and future leaders in the science and clinical application of immune therapies. Participants will review current progress as the basis to initiate discussions of challenges and potential solutions to advance the field. The assembled researchers and clinicians usually produce a formal output from the meeting, often published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC), the society’s open access, peer-reviewed online journal.

On Sept. 4-5, 2019, in Houston, Texas, the SITC Cancer Immune Responsiveness Task Force will, for the second consecutive year, host a Cancer Immune Responsiveness Workshop. The focus on understanding cancer immune responsiveness is timely and critical for our field, and could lead to improved prognostic and predictive biomarkers, improved patient selection, more rational combination strategies in the clinic and more efficient clinical development of single agents and combinations. Didactic lectures and working groups will cover key topics such as the role of host genetics and epigenetics in immune responsiveness; transcription patterns indicative of distinct tumor immune landscapes; and more. Immediately following, on Sept. 5-6, 2019, SITC will host the Adoptive Cellular Therapies Workshop. The field of adoptive cell therapy is receiving increased attention from scientists, clinicians, patients, regulators and payors following the 2017 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies for patients with lymphoma and leukemia. This is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting and promising areas of clinical medicine, and this program will bring together experts to address the evolving science of cell engineering, novel strategies to improve the overall risk/benefit profile, clinical development, regulatory challenges and more.

Additionally, the first four sessions taking place the morning of Sept. 5 will allow attendees from both workshops to come together to discuss common challenges of the field, and how knowledge gained from study of cancer immune responsiveness can enable development of more effective adoptive cell therapies.

Please consider joining us for both programs over the course of three days. Participants who register for both workshops will receive a 30 percent discount.

Finally, for those attending the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, I hope you consider joining me, the SITC staff and your fellow SITC colleagues and friends at SITC’s annual fundraiser for the Forward Fund, The CheckPoints Party. Come and party with the Checkpoints band (stars in the true sense of the word, including 2018 Nobel Laureate James P. Allison, PhD) beginning at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 2, at Buddy Guy’s Legends (700 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago).

VIP tickets are available online or by calling 414-271-2456. General admission at the door is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with suggested donation of $30. Proceeds support SITC’s Forward Fund, providing grant opportunities to promising early career scientists in the field. You can learn about some of the young investigators who have benefited from the SITC Forward Fund by viewing the Faces of the Forward Fund.

Sincerely,

Mario Sznol, MD

SITC President

Cancer Immune Responsiveness Workshop
Sept. 4-5, 2019, in Houston

Organizers:
Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD – NanoString Technologies, Inc.
Francesco M. Marincola, MD – Refuge Biotechnologies, Inc.

Building upon the success of last year’s program, the goal of the 2019 Cancer Immune Responsiveness Workshop is the continued advancement of knowledge in the field about interactions between the immune system and cancer that contribute to immunotherapy response and resistance.

Over this two-day workshop, participants will take part in both didactic sessions and working groups to identify and address key questions in the field concerning cancer immune responsiveness.

Topics to be discussed include:

• The role of host genetics and epigenetics in immune responsiveness
• Transcription patterns indicative of distinct tumor immune landscapes
• Novel therapeutic strategies and related analytical approaches that involve modification of the tumor microenvironment
• Circumstantial/environmental factors that may help determine the immunological constant of rejection in the context of cancer
• The state of the field and new concepts that impact cancer immune responsiveness and adoptive cellular therapies

Click here register now to attend the Cancer Immune Responsiveness Workshop. Registration rates are available here.

Adoptive Cellular Therapies Workshop
Sept. 5-6, 2019, in Houston

Organizers:
Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD – NanoString Technologies, Inc.
Katayoun Rezvani, MD, PhD – The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

In the wake of the 2017 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies for the treatment of patients with lymphoma and leukemia, adoptive cellular therapies have rapidly become a focal point for stakeholders across the field of cancer immunotherapy.

As this treatment modality has displayed unprecedented patient response and offers significant curative potential for cancer patients across the globe, SITC is proud to host an Adoptive Cellular Therapies Workshop to support both continued momentum and clinical advancement.

This two-day workshop will bring together cancer immunotherapy experts to discuss and address challenges concerning the use and development of adoptive cellular therapies for the treatment of cancer patients.

Throughout didactic sessions and participation in collaborative working groups, attendees will discuss a number of topics, including:

• Development of novel strategies to improve the overall risk/benefit profile for adoptive cellular therapies
• Clinical development and regulatory challenges
• Real world hurdles that impact scalability and patient access
• Circumstantial/environmental factors that may help determine the immunological constant of rejection in the context of cancer
• The state of the field and new concepts that impact cancer immune responsiveness and adoptive cellular therapies

Click here register now to attend the Adoptive Cellular Therapies Workshop. Registration rates are available here.

Access 2018 SITC Interim Workshops Enduring Materials
2018 Cancer Immune Responsiveness Workshop
The Cancer Immune Responsiveness Task Force hosted a two-day workshop on May 14-15, 2018, that brought together stakeholders to discuss topics including:

• Interactions between tumor evolution in the immune competent host and the resulting immune landscape
• Identification of common pathways that could be interrogated and targeted to better understand and increase immunogenicity among silent or ‘cold’ cancers
• Mechanistic understanding of parameters that could predict immune response to different cancer immunotherapies
• Development of animal models that accurately reflect the immune landscape in ‘hot’ versus ‘cold’ human tumors

Access Program Materials: Enduring materials from this program are available to the general public. Please click here to access presentations from the program. Presentations and video recordings are available based on permission from presenters.

2018 Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers: State of the Art Workshop
The SITC Immune Biomarkers Committee reconvened on May 16–17, 2018, for a two-day workshop on critical next steps in the field, including:

• Obtaining and handling biospecimens
• Exploring, identifying and validating new biomarkers
• Data and specimen sharing
• Collaborating with other disciplines

A review of this meeting was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC) on Dec. 4, 2018.

Access Program Materials: Enduring materials from this program are also available to the general public. Please click here to access the presentations. Presentations and video recordings are available based on permission from presenters.

Learn more about the Immune Biomarkers Committee.

The CheckPoints Party
June 2, 2019, at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago

SITC's house band, The CheckPoints, will return to Buddy Guy's Legends on Sunday, June 2, 2019! Comprised of SITC members who are luminaries in the field of cancer immunotherapy, The CheckPoints have become a popular mainstay in society activities.

Come out to support SITC's Forward Fund and hear The CheckPoints play your favorite modern and classic rock hits. For more information, contact Mindon Laue at mlaue@sitcancer.org or (414) 271-2456.

SKIP THE LINE: Click Here to order your VIP tickets or call (414) 271-2456 for more information on:

• Individual VIP tickets ($120)
• Corporate VIP tables ($2,500)
• Sponsorship (various levels)