SITC Archive Library

SITC 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting (2015): Innate Immunity
November 6-8, 2015
Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center National Harbor, MD

Session Co-Chairs 
Vincenzo Bronte, MD – University of Verona
Keith L. Knutson, PhD – Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

SITC 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting Organizers
Sandra Demaria, MD – Weill Cornell Medical College
Madhav Dhodapkar, MD – Yale University
Pamela S. Ohashi, PhD – Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Jennifer A. Wargo, MD – University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Andrew D. Weinberg, PhD – Earle A. Chiles Research Institute

Program Summary
Like adaptive immune effectors (e.g. T and B cells), innate immune effectors (both lymphoid and myeloid) have key roles in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Key innate cellular effectors include monocyte derivatives (e.g. macrophages), dendritic cells, granulocytes, and natural killer cells. Depending on the phenotype of the innate effectors, they can confer a protective effect against tumor initiation and progression. However, more often, the innate component is suppressive and maintains a tumor-promoting chronic inflammatory state, impairing adaptive immune eradication. In some cases, innate immune responses, triggered by tumor cells, are natural physiologic functions designed to maintain peripheral immune tolerance and promote wound healing. However, as tumors progress, the TME becomes deranged resulting in the accumulation of aberrantly differentiated myeloid effectors that are hostile to adaptive immunity. Such cells include myeloid derived suppressor cells and tumor-associated macrophages, which are widely associated with poor outcome and rapid disease progression. More recently, there has been reports that humoral innate effectors (e.g. complement) are also deregulated in the tumor microenvironment potentially suppressing immune eradication or contributing to growth. The focus of this session at the SITC 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 7, 2015 in National Harbor, MD was to summarize established concepts of innate immunity in the tumor microenvironment as well as showcase new findings and mechanisms. The integration of our understanding of the role of innate immunity in the TME is generally expected to lead to novel therapeutics that could be combined with active or passive adaptive immune therapies fostering durable complete cancer regressions.

Target Audience 
The target audience for this program included basic and clinical investigators from academic institutions, industry and regulatory agencies, including clinicians, researchers, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and allied health professionals involved in cancer research as well as pharmacists and payers that wished to learn more about cancer immunology and immunotherapy and its incorporation into current (and future) effective cancer treatment.

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