Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

A Town Hall Forum will discuss the latest findings with regard to precision medicine, its impact currently in cancer treatment, and future directions, discussed by some of the preeminent cancer researchers and oncologists in the country. This unprecedented event is being hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Philadelphia Media Network – publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com.

Given the following speakers, this event will have a large focus on use of cancer immunotherapy as well as new targets in the precision medicine arena.

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Register today: Philly.com/CancerEvent – Use the promo code “AACR” for discounted $45 tickets.

When: Thursday, January 21, 2016 • Program: 2 pm • Networking reception: 5:30 pm.

Where:  The College of Physicians of Philadelphia • 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

The event will be held in Philadelphia at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, home of the famous Mutter Museum.

Please follow the meeting coverage on @pharma_BI and using the following @ handle and # hastags of Twitter:

@AACR

@pharma_BI

@PhillyInquirer

#cbi16

#precisionmedicine

#endcancer

 

From Penn Medicine News Blog: Archives (please click on link below)

January 06, 2016 // By Steve Graff // Comments

What’s the Big Idea? Cancer Leaders to Talk Precision Medicine

Penn’s Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD), which recently named Kojo S.J. Elenitoba-Johnson, MD, as its founding director, is diving deeper into cancer patients’ tumors with next generation DNA sequencing.

The genetic tests help refine diagnoses with greater precision than standard imaging tests and blood work by spotting known mutations that can inform the treatment plan. Since it launched in February 2013, the CPD has performed more than 4,000 advanced diagnostics, representing a wide range of cancers.  It’s also producing actionable findings: Of those tests, 75 percent found disease-associated mutations, revealing possible new treatment pathways.

This new CPD video helps breakdown how the process works, but a patient story can really help connect the dots. We’ve written about several people who benefited from the CPD, including one acute myeloid leukemia patient with an FLT3 mutation that made her a candidate for a targeted therapy, and another whose cholangiocarcinoma was successfully treated with a BRAF-targeted therapy after the mutation—typically associated with melanoma—was spotted.

ACC’s role as a national leader in personalized cancer care was also reinforced with the opening of the Center for Rare Cancers and Personalized Therapy in 2015.

Directed by Marcia Brose, MD, PhD, this virtual center enrolls patients into clinical trials based on genetic markers rather than tumor origin.  Patients with the same mutation, BRAF for instance, but different cancers, are part of the same clinical study investigating a targeted therapy.  A story, set to air on TV news affiliates across the country in the upcoming weeks, will feature a patient with a rare salivary tumor who ran out of treatment options, until a HRAS mutation identified through the CPD put him back on track, after switching to the drug tipifarnib. The patient responded well, and a recent scan revealed that his disease has stabilized.

“Philadelphia is a hotbed for healthcare innovation and groundbreaking scientific research—which becomes even more apparent as the ACC continues to move the needle in the precision medicine world,”Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) director Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, said.  “Quickly evolving diagnostics and genetic tests, cancer vaccines, and powerful personalized therapies that use the body’s own immune system to fight off cancer: These are just a few of the medical advances being utilized today that are giving patients the greatest chance.”

For Media Inquiries see the following AACR contact information:

Julia Gunther
Assistant Director, Media and Public Relations
215-446-6896
Cell: 267-250-5441
Fax: 215-861-5937
julia.gunther@aacr.org
Gunther promotes the AACR’s meetings, journals, and initiatives to the media and the public.

Lauren Walens
Senior Manager, Media and Public Relations
215-446-7163
Fax: 267-765-1050
lauren.walens@aacr.org
Walens promotes the AACR’s meetings, journals, and initiatives to the media and the public. She also manages the AACR’s blog, Cancer Research Catalyst.

Lauren Riley
Senior Coordinator, Media and Public Relations
215-446-7155
Fax: 215-446-7291
lauren.riley@aacr.org
Riley is responsible for media relations promotion and support, conference newsroom logistics, writing and proofreading, website and news release copy, as well as office support for the Communications and Public Relations Department staff.