World's Leading Mesothelioma Doctors and Researchers to Discuss Treatment Options on May 13-17, 1997 in Philadelphia, PA.
The International Mesothelioma Interest Group will hold its Fourth International Mesothelioma Conference in Philadelphia from May 13-15, 1997. Speakers from the USA, Japan, Finland, Italy, Australia and other countries will exchange updated research on a wide variety of topics relating to mesothelioma, including clinical studies, gene therapy, surgical options, prognastic factors, chemotherapy, and immunology. Of particular interest, Dr. S. Mikulski will discuss the results of the Phase II protocol using Onconase on patients with advanced mesothelioma. In addition, Dr. Dan Sterman will discuss the results of the UPENN Phase I trial on mesothelioma patients using gene therapy, Dr. Lary Robinson of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida will discuss the relationship between chemotherapy and extrapleural pneumonectomy, and other doctors will talk about the effects of systemic chemo using taxol and cisplatin.
I will be attending this exciting conference and will post the abstracts from each speaker once they become available.
Highlights of the latest posted Subjects to be Covered for Thursday, May 15. As more information regarding the schedule becomes available I will post it here.
THURSDAY MAY 15, 1997
Plenary Session
09:00-15:00 Symposium: CLINICAL STUDIES
Chair: Dr C. Boutin (Marseille, France), Dr P. Chahinian (New York, USA) , Dr Harvey Pass (Detroit, USA)
09:00-09:30 Dr A. Knuuttila (Helsinki, Finland) "Radiological evaluation criteria for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Comparison of CT and MRI"
09:30-10:00 Dr L. Tammilehto (Helsinki, Finland) "Factors affecting surgical strategies in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma"
10:00-10:20 Dr P. Baas (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) "Photodynamic therapy with m-THPC as adjuvant treatment for resected malignant mesothelioma
10:20-10:30 Coffee break
10:30-10:45 Dr L. Robinson (Tampa, USA) "Induction chemotherapy in pleural mesothelioma precludes the technical performance of an extrapleural pneumonectomy"
10:45-11:00 Dr C. Boutin (Marseille, France) "Malignant pleural mesothelioma. Results of a Phase II trial of combined chemotherapy"
11:00-11:15 Dr P. Ruffie (Villejuif, France) "Phase II study of paclitaxel (Taxol) and cisplatin (CDDP) in advanced pleural malignant mesothelioma (MM)"
11:15-11:30 Dr T. Nakano (Hyogo, Japan) "A pilot Phase II study of irinotecan (CPT-11) in combination with cisplatin administered intravenously to patients with malignant mesothelioma"
11:30-11:45 Dr B. Castagneto (Torino, Italy) "Intracavitary and systemic rIL-2 in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma"
11:45-14:00 LUNCH AND POSTER VIEWING
14:00-14:30 General Discussion and Poster Review
14:30-17:00 Symposium: GENE THERAPY Chair: Dr S. Woo (New York, USA), Dr S. Albelda (Philadelphia, USA), Dr L. Kaiser (Philadelphia, USA)
14:30-15:00 Dr S. Woo (New York, USA) "Combination suicide and immunomodulatory gene therapy for primary and metastatic cancers"
15:00-15:10 Discussion
15:10-15:30 Dr D. Sterman (Philadelphia, USA) "Adenoviral mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir gene therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Results of a Phase I clinical trial"
15:30-15:50 Dr B. Robinson (Perth, Australia) "Intralesional vaccinia virus-interleukin 2 (VV-IL2) gene therapy in malignant mesothelioma (MM)"
15:50-16:00 Dr K. Molnar-Kimber (Philadelphia, USA) "Adenoviral-based gene therapy for patients with localized mesothelioma. Induced cellular and humoral immune response"
16:00-16:10 Dr K. Gelfand (Philadelphia, USA) "Mesothelioma patients administered recombinant adenoviral-based gene therapy intrapleurally exhibit TH1 cellular immune response"
16:10-16:30 Dr M. Garlepp (Perth, Australia) "Expression of B7-1 plus either interleukin-2 (IL-2) or interferon-gamma (IFN-g) can inhibit tumor development by murine mesothelioma clones.
16:30-16:40 Dr N. Rizk (Philadelphia, USA) "Evaluation of the bystander effect in adenovirus mediated p53 gene therapy"
16:40-17:00 General Discussion and Poster Review
THURSDAY MAY 15, 1997
CLINICAL STUDIES - GENE THERAPY
09:00-17:00 Dr A. Zaccaria (Trieste, Italy): "Malignant pleural mesothelioma. Prognostic factors"
Dr A. Tonomura (Hyogo, Japan): "Immunotherapy using streptococcal preparation OK-432 for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. A preliminary study"
Dr S. Mikulski (Bloomfield, USA): "The use of Onconase (ONC) for patients (PTS) with advanced malignant mesothelioma (MM)"
Dr M. Lopez (Paris, France): "Local adoptive immunotherapy using IFNg-activated autologous macrophages in malignant pleural mesothelioma. A phase I/II study."
Dr K. Linnainmaa (Helsinki, Finland): "Individual variation in response to cytostatic chemotherapy in the treatment of mesothelioma. In vitro studies in human cell lines."
Dr L. Coonrod (Philadelphia, USA): "Retinoids augment the bystander effect in HSVtk/GCV mediated gene therapy by enhanced gap junctional intercellular communication."