TMEsystems24

The tumor microenvironment (TME) systems in precision medicine symposium will center on translational research related to TME, connecting it to clinical trials and entrepreneurship. While conventional anti-cancer therapies were primarily designed to target the inherent properties of tumor cells; research indicates that both nearby and distant cells surrounding the tumor play a crucial role in treatment effectiveness. The fundamental questions revolve around the identification and intentional manipulation of TME compositions and structures to develop anti-tumor environments that enhance targeted tumor therapies. The symposium will focus on innovative model systems, understanding the mechanisms of complex system behavior, and clinical investigations utilizing single-cell and spatial -omics technologies to study TME structure and function. Symposium speakers will analyze systems-based approaches, hypoxia, extracellular vesicles, inflammation, antigenicity, lymph-node interactions, and how these factors predict treatment outcomes. While dominated by breast cancer research, the symposium will also cover other cancer types such as colon and lung cancer, melanoma, uveal melanoma, brain cancers, and acute myeloid leukemia.