From molecular diagnostics to target therapies
With the focus on ‘From molecular diagnostics to target therapies’, the 8th International Symposium for Future Technology: Creating better human health and society frontiers in cancer research was hosted by the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology on February 6th 2015.
As the executive organizer, Prof. Masaharu Seno organized five special lectures and a poster session. Okayama University recently signed a mutual agreement with Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, USA, and their invited representative, Manohar Ratnam, chaired one of the invited lectures.
Three of the keynote lectures were given by Japanese eminent scientists. Takahiro Ochiya, chief of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, National Cancer Center Research Institute, lectured on the potential usefulness of extracellular miRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic tools in cancer. His lecture was entitled ‘The impact of exosomal transfer of microRNAs’. Noriko Gotoh from the Cancer Research Institute at Kanazawa University discussed the ‘Novel molecular targets for breast and lung cancer stem cells’ in his lecture. Ikuo Fujii of the Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, lectured on ‘Post-antibody drugs: generation of molecular- targeting peptides “MicroAntibodies” by phage- displayed libraries’.
Mugdha Patki, invited from Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, also gave a lecture on the ‘Novel role of the glucocorticoid receptor in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma’. Hiromi Tanaka, from the Indiana University School of Medicine, described ‘The potential utility of telomere-related aberrations for cancer diagnosis’ during his session.
Seno’s collaborators Tomonari Kasai, Takayuki Kudoh, Satoshi Hirohata, Toshiaki Ohara, Yosihaki Iwasaki and Hiroki Kakuta, in promotion of ‘The Cancer Stem Cell Research Project’ at Okayama University, presented their work during short poster presentations.
All of the sessions produced thought-provoking insights and enthusiastic discussion on the forefront research of cancer stem cells. In total over one hundred people attended the conference, including the lecturers.
The 9th International Symposium is scheduled for February 2016, and will focus again on this most advanced field of high-quality and innovative cancer research.
【Correspondence】
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University
Prof. Masaharu Seno
TEL：+81-86-251-8216
e-mail：mseno@okayama-u.ac.jp
http://www.cyber.biotech.okayama-u.ac.jp/senolab/e_kenkyuu.html