LUGANO, Switzerland – The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading professional organisation for medical oncology, is pleased to announce the ESMO Immuno-Oncology 2018 Congress, a dedicated platform in Europe to keep professionals up to date with the most recent and significant developments in this rapidly evolving field.
This Congress, to be held from 13-16 December in Geneva, Switzerland, is designed for basic, translational and clinical researchers, immunologists, oncology clinicians and other stakeholders, and will attract one thousand participants who will benefit from a broad and varied programme as well as focused sessions dedicated to different tumour types and key aspects of this treatment modality.
The ESMO Immuno Oncology Congress programme, designed by a faculty of international renown experts, will provide rich material for journalists in this exciting field that is bringing new hope to cancer patients.
Among the scientific sessions, you may find of particular interest the following ones:
- Proffered paper 1, Thursday, 13 December, 18:15-19:00, featuring 2 late breaking abstracts on: the efficacy and safety results of nivolumab immunotherapy in recurrent small-cell lung cancer (CheckMate-331 trial), and the use of durvolumab with or without tremelimumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (MYSTIC trial)
- Proffered paper 2, Friday, 14 December, 09:00-10:30, where a group of international studies will be presented with data on the role of T-cell therapy and its various applications.
- Proffered paper 3, Saturday, 15 December, 11:00-12:30, discussing fast disease progression (OAK trial), long-term follow-up (Keynote-010 trial) and patient-reported outcomes (IMpower133 trial) of different combinations with immunotherapy in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer and small-cell lung cancer.
The Congress programme also features several sessions in which global leaders will present the latest knowledge on state-of-the-art treatment of specific diseases:
- Chest tumours: Chemotherapy and immunotherapy combinations in NSCLC, including a glimpse on the role of immunotherapy in mesothelioma
- Melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma: Updates on adjuvant therapy, adoptive cell therapy and early development programmes in melanoma and progresses in the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma
- Genitourinary tumours: Biomarkers and novel immune combinations for genitourinary cancers, including first-line immune therapy in renal cell carcinoma and immune therapy for bladder cancer
- Haematological malignancies: Antibodies and checkpoint inhibitors
- Breast and gynaecological cancers: How to optimise immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in ovarian cancer; and evidences from clinical trials in defining the immunogram of breast cancer
- Head and neck cancers: Recent development for H&N squamous cell cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer; including new opportunities to combine immune therapies and radiation
- Gastrointestinal cancers: How immunotherapy can be applied in hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers
- Brain tumours: Challenges in designing clinical trials for patients with brain and leptomeningeal metastases; and checkpoint inhibition and Car T cells for glioblastoma
Keynote lectures:
- “Combination immunotherapy of cancers caused by high-risk human papillomavirus” (Thursday, 13 December at 13:45) by Cornelis Melief, Professor Emeritus in tumour immunology at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
Melief has been awarded the ESMO Award for Immuno-Oncology for his outstanding contribution in the area of immuno-oncology, dedicating his career to understanding how the immune system interacta with cancer, and used this knowledge for the development of new therapeutic cancer vaccine strategies. - “Reprogramming human T cell circuitry” (Sunday, 16 December at 12:30) by Alexander Marson, Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, USA
Media registration
ESMO welcomes members of the press interested in reporting on cancer. Registration to the ESMO Immuno-Oncology 2018 Congress is free to bona fide journalists on presentation of a letter of assignment and a valid press card.
Media representatives are required to observe and abide by the ESMO Media Policy.
To register as press, please fill out the media registration.
We look forward to welcoming you in Geneva.
Further information
ESMO Press Office: media@esmo.org
Notes to Editors
Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO Immuno-Oncology 2018 Congress
Official Congress Hashtag: #ESMOImmuno18
About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 20,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment.