The cancer research community is on the verge of a major leap in our understanding of the factors that contribute to human cancer risk. While it is clear that mutations in DNA, either spontaneous or environmentally induced, are essential for cancer development, recent advances have highlighted the importance of non-mutagenic factors as rate-limiting determinants of cancer risk in human populations and in mouse cancer models. The root causes of human cancer have been widely debated, but most of the emphasis has been on the origins of the “driver” mutations that are ubiquitous in human tumours. Although epidemiology studies have highlighted the possible roles of lifestyle factors such as obesity, alcohol consumption and poor diet in cancer risk, it has generally been assumed that these act directly or indirectly to cause mutations in DNA, thus contributing to tumour mutational burden resulting in increased cancer risk. In contrast, recent sequencing studies have uncovered abundant mutations in normal human tissues, suggesting that even strong cancer driver mutations are not sufficient for cancer formation. These results were presaged by studies of mouse tumour models, some carried out more than 70 years ago, showing that promotion is the rate-limiting step in tumour development.
The promoter hypothesis postulates that cells that acquire mutations through exposure to exogenous or endogenous mutagenic factors accumulate cancer-driving mutations while maintaining normal tissue homeostasis. After exposure to a ‘promoting’ stimulus, such as chronic wounding, these ‘initiated’ cells, through an unknown mechanism, gain a selective advantage allowing them to undergo clonal expansion and progress to malignancy.
This 41st edition of Biomed conference will provide an interdisciplinary forum for researchers interested in the principles of cancer promotion and in their implications for understanding tumor initiation and informed prevention. The conference will also showcase novel technologies to study clonal expansion in human normal tissues, promotion studies in organoids and model systems, and functional screens to reveal the mechanisms of promotion.
Topics:
• Epidemiology, risk factors and cancer prevention
• Molecular mechanisms of cancer promotion
• Clonal expansions in normal tissues
• Modeling cancer promotion and prevention in organoids and model systemsImportant dates
Registration Deadline:
15 April, 2024
Note: Any issue with the registration or abstract, please contact: meritxell.gavalda@irbbarcelona.org
There is no registration fee for this conference, but the number of participants is limited, with a number of seats saved for IRB Barcelona alumni. Previous registration is required.
More information and registration here
