More than 3,000 physicians and researchers from throughout the world are expected to participate in the 23rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 6-9, in San Antonio. The Symposium is co-sponsored by the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) whose affiliation forms the San Antonio Cancer Institute (SACI). SACI is a Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Institute.
The objective of the symposium now and for the past 22 years has been to provide a truly international forum for discussion of basic and clinical research in breast cancer. It is designed to provide state-of-the-art information on the experimental, biology, etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of breast cancer to an international audience of academic and private physicians and researchers. Symposium directors are Charles A. Coltman, Jr., MD, President and CEO of CTRC, Profess or of Medicine at UTHSCSA and Director of SACI, and C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director, Breast Center and Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine.
Three mini-symposia and a Satellite Symposium are on tap for the week. The mini symposia consist of: Microarray-based Anaylsis of Breast Cancer; ER Structure, Function and Clinical Ability; and Novel Targets for the Treatment of Breast Cancer. The satellite symposium will feature the topic “Targeted Therapies for the Treatment f Breast Cancer.” The William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture will be delivered on Wednesday, December 6, by Trevor J. Powles, MD, PhD, Royal Marsden Hpsoital, Sutton, Surrey, England. His topic is, “Molecular markers in breast cancer: Where are we, where are we going.”
There are five plenary speakers on the program. Among them is Richard Peto, PhD, University of Oxford. His presentation will provide an overview of the year 2000 results of the EBCTCG. The other speakers and their topics are: Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, from the Mayo Clinic, discussing the study of alternative therapies for patients with breast cancer; C. Thomas Caskey, MD, from Cogene BioTech Venture in Houston, with his presentation “Safe viral vectors provide the opportunity to intitate clinical trials;” Ronald K. Ross, MD, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles discussing hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer;” and Laurie L. Fajardo, MD, from the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center in Baltimore speaking on digital mammography.
Over 440 different presentations will be made over the course of the Symposium, by means of poster sessions and lectures. Also, during the symposium on the evening of December 7, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation will hold their Brinker International Awards Dinner.