Drug Resistance, Targeted Cell Therapies Among Cancer Conference Talks
UCSF.edu | April 17, 2023
Targeted immunotherapy agents, the race to beat KRAS, and combatting drug resistance are among the topics that will be presented by leading cancer researchers from UC San Francisco at this year’s annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference, held April 14-19, 2023, in Orlando.
The theme of this year’s conference, “Advancing the Frontiers of Cancer Science and Medicine,” will showcase the latest advances in the etiology, biology, prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer as well as the state-of-the-art concepts and technologies shaping cancer research today. The gathering will bring together scientists, clinicians, health care professionals, survivors, patients, and cancer advocates.
This year’s program features transformative research by many experts from the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Here are some highlights:
First-line Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy May Benefit Patients with Advanced Biliary Tract Cancers AACR.org April 16, 2023
R. Kate Kelley, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist and UCSF professor of Medicine, was featured in AACR’s press program highlighting her study “CT008-Pembrolizumab (pembro) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin (gem/cis) for advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC): Phase 3 KEYNOTE-966 study.”
Highlights from Twitter
If you enjoyed the talk by Scarlett Gomez at the #AACR23 session on Next Generation Cancer Epidemiologic cohorts, check out her paper on integrating electronic health records, cancer registry, and geospatial data here! https://t.co/oYkZXNBAE0 @UCSF_Epibiosta pic.twitter.com/Cl8jx4DAmJ
— Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (@CEBP_AACR) April 14, 2023
Trapping KRAS GTP in an inactive state @simanshu & colleagues @FredNatLab and @UCSFCancer @kevansf and team get shout-outs from Dr. McCormick for their outstanding work in the Ras field over the past decade.
— Emil Lou, MD, PhD, FACP (@cancerassassin1) April 15, 2023
Next generation of KRAS inhibitors is moving along nicely #AACR23
#AACR23 update from Robin Kate Kelley of @UCSF on pembro in combo with gem/cis for advanced BTC? Check out these popular #JITC phase 2 trial results of nivo with gem/cis in pts with unresectable or metastatic BTC from Kaichao Feng et al https://t.co/BD7riThksx pic.twitter.com/Yvo7wHouGz
— Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (@jitcancer) April 16, 2023
Honored to have shared an evening of family and fellowship with these amazing women in cancer research @rachnatshroff @DrLizJaffee , Margaret Tempero, Nilofer Azad, Katie Kelley, Jennifer Grandis #AACR23 @UCSFCancer pic.twitter.com/BMoa3kAepU
— Nina Shah (@ninashah33) April 17, 2023
The rich history of RAS.
— Christine Lovly, MD, PhD (@christine_lovly) April 15, 2023
Dr. Frank McCormick from @UCSF provides historical context of RAS research. @aacr #AACR2023 #AACR23 @OncoAlert pic.twitter.com/aYPr5QPetA
Great start to #AACR23 plenary by Frank McCormick @UCSF & @FredNatLab – discussing discovery of RAS proteins. Currently approved drugs focus on GDP-bound state. Newer drugs targeting RAS in the GTP-bound phase & other approaches to targeting RAS in preclinical development. (2/4) pic.twitter.com/i07B09xz9F
— LUNGevity Foundation (@LUNGevity) April 17, 2023
Congratulations to @kevansf on his induction into the @AACR Academy this evening, along with @DrLauraEsserman @UCSFHospitals. Follow along April 14-19 for more highlights from #AACR23. https://t.co/hFE2aDlyt8
— UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Ctr (@UCSFCancer) April 14, 2023
Awards and Honors
- New Fellows. Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, and Kevan Shokat, PhD, were named among the 2023 Fellows of the AACR Academy
- Scholar-In-Training Award. Nilanjana Chatterjee, PhD, “Targeting Hippo-YAP, BRD4 and RAS-MAPK interplay in lung cancer to forestall drug resistance” This award supports early-career investigators presenting high-quality abstracts in cancer research at #AACR23
Featured Presentations (All times Eastern)
Friday, April 14 Educational Sessions
- UCSF Epidemiologist Scarlett Gomez, PhD, MPH, will serve as chairperson, author and presenter for Session ED014 - Next Generation Cancer Epidemiologic Cohorts. Gomez will present “Next generation cancer epidemiologic cohorts: Gaps and opportunities” from 4:46 pm - 5:06 p.m. during the session.
- Valerie Weaver, PhD, UCSF professor of surgery, will present “Dynamic interplay between cellular and non-cellular tissue stroma, tissue tension and tumor progression” from 10:21 - 10:41 a.m. during the educational session ED020 - It's More than the ECM: Physical Oncology.
Saturday, April 15
- Frank McCormick, MD, FRS, David A. Wood Distinguished Professorship of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research at UCSF, will present “The Race to Kill RAS” from 4:19 - 4:46 p.m. during plenary session PL01 - Beating KRAS: A 30-Year Overnight Sensation.
Sunday, April 16
- Press Conference 11 am ET: R. Kate Kelley, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist and UCSF professor of Medicine, will take part in AACR’s press program highlighting her study “CT008-Pembrolizumab (pembro) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin (gem/cis) for advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC): Phase 3 KEYNOTE-966 study.”
- R. Kate Kelley, MD, will also present her findings from 4:30 - 4:45 p.m. as part of clinical trials plenary session CTPL02 - Hope for Rare Cancers: Novel Targeted and Immunotherapy Agents.
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Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD, UCSF chief of pediatric oncology, will present “PCWG Working Group Overview” from 6:30
-6:40 p.m. during a pediatric cancer town hall meeting, SESSION TM05 - Cell-of-Origin and Tumor Heterogeneity in Childhood Cancers: A Pediatric Cancer Working Group Town Hall Meeting.
Monday, April 17
- Katherine C. Fuh, MD, PhD, will be presenting Preclinical evidence for targeting the microenvironment during the session AOS07 - The Ovarian Cancer Microenvironment: Promise for New Therapies from 10:45 to 11:14 am.
- Trever G. Bivona, MD, PhD, thoracic medical oncologist and UCSF professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, will serve as chairperson for the clinical trials mini-symposium, CTMS02 - Targeting the KRAS Pathway in the Clinic, on April 17, from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
- Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD will serve as chairman for the pediatric cancer symposium DC11 - Using Real World Evidence to Advance Pediatric Cancer Drug Development and deliver the chairperson presentation from 2:40 - 2:50 p.m. The session will focus on drug development, bioinformatics, computational and systems biology, and convergent science in pediatric cancer.
Tuesday, April 18
- Trever G. Bivona, MD, PhD, will present “Therapy-induced stress adaptations driving tumor evolution during molecular therapy in human NSCLC” from 11:20 - 11:35 a.m. during the symposium SY03 - Stress, Stemness, and Drug Resistance.
- Julia Carnevale, MD, UCSF assistant professor of medicine, will present her study, “CRISPR-based engineering of key gene targets to enhance T-cell therapies,” from 1 - 1:20 p.m. during symposium SY18 - Dharma Master Jiantai Symposium in Targeted Therapy: Cellular Therapies for Cancer.
Wednesday, April 19
- Franklin W. Huang, MD, PhD, medical oncologist and UCSF associate professor of medicine and principal investigator, SFVA/UCSF Precision Oncology Center of Excellence, is the featured speaker at the “Meet-the-Expert Session” Session ME44 - Utilizing Genomic Technologies to Study Prostate Cancer and Prostate Cancer Disparities.”
- Kole Roybal, PhD, UCSF associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology, will present “Towards the development of synthetic immunity to cancer” from 10:20 - 10:40 a.m. during the symposium SY19 - Engineered T Cells for Solid Tumors.