Society For Melanoma Research Congress To Highlight New Discoveries And Promising Treatment Pathways

Main Category: Melanoma / Skin Cancer
Article Date: 24 Oct 2007 - 8:00 PDT

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What:

New understanding behind the causes of melanoma is starting to yield exciting and promising new pathways to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. To support this growing research momentum, the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) will host its 4th International Congress, which will feature:

- researchers from 38 different countries
- 35 plenary sessions and mini-symposia, and
- approximately 160 poster sessions

The quantity of research being presented and the number of registered participants is unprecedented and signals a turning tide in melanoma research.

Why:

Melanoma is the most deadly type of skin cancer and the number of people being diagnosed with and dying from melanoma has risen consistently in the last several decades. The disease exacts a terrible toll on human life, ranking just behind childhood leukemia in terms of years of life lost. Melanoma, caught early, is one of the easiest cancers to treat, but melanoma caught late is one of the most intractable. Finding new therapies is critical because conventional therapies often have limited success in treating patients with advanced melanoma.

With expanding knowledge of the genetics behind melanoma, researchers expect to see a growing number of novel therapies in clinical trials to treat melanoma. In addition to gene-based therapies, novel classes of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, anti-angiogenesis agents, and small molecules are giving researchers new pathways to explore. The purpose of the Congress is to provide a forum to discuss these new approaches.

Who:

Available for interview are:

- Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D., Program Director and Professor, Burnham Institute
- David Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Melanoma Program, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
- Lynn Schuchter, M.D., President, Melanoma Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.
- Paul Chapman, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
- Meenhard Herlyn D.V.M., D.Sc., Professor and Program Leader, Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program, Wistar Institute
- Randy Lomax, Chair, Melanoma Research Foundation

When:

Thursday, November 1 - Sunday, November 4, 2007

Where:

New York Marriott Financial Center
85 West Street
New York, New York 10006

Contact: The registration fee is waived for working media. A press room will be provided onsite. Please contact Berna Diehl at 703-966-3602 or berna@jonespa.com to register for the medical meeting or for additional information.

Society of Melanoma Research

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