New York Lung Cancer Conference to Prominently Feature Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapies

Roman Perez-Soler, MD

Roman Perez-Soler, MD

On November 7, 2015, some of the leading experts in oncology, together with other oncology healthcare professionals involved in the treatment and management of patients with lung cancer, will gather in Manhattan for the 10th Annual New York Lung Cancer Symposium^®.

This one-day symposium, at the Crowne Plaza Times Square, will examine advances in the management of lung cancer, including presentations on emerging data, recent evolutions in the standard of care, and case-based discussions, as well as provide other information that participants might find useful in their daily clinical practice.

The program is co-chaired by Mark G. Kris, MD, an attending physician in the Thoracic Oncology Service, and the William and Joy Ruane Chair in thoracic oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and Roman Perez-Soler, MD, chairman of the Department of Oncology at Montefiore Medical Center, professor of medicine and molecular pharmacology, and Deputy Cancer Center Director at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

Immunotherapies Session

Immunotherapy is one of the hottest topics in lung cancer, and the first part of the day’s program, moderated by Joseph Aisner, MD, will feature several presentations on the key immunotherapies under investigation in lung cancer, including nivolumab, pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, and MEDI4736.

Invited faculty presenters include Renato G. Martins, MD, Nasser H. Hanna, MD, Chandra P. Belani, MD, and David A. Spiegel, MD. This session will also feature a presentation by Perez-Soler on matching the right patient with the right immunotherapy, and a presentation by M. Catherine Pietanza, MD, on how immunotherapies might also be used in the treatment of small cell lung cancers and mesothelioma.

Targeted Therapies Session

The second part of the day will feature a session focused on various aspects of targeted therapy. Topics to be covered in the afternoon’s presentations include what to consider when choosing among the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as a first-line therapy, when to change EGFR TKI therapy, maturing data on the third-generation EGFR TKIs, using anti-EGFR antibodies in the frontline and TKI-resistant settings, and an update on the clinical development of ALK inhibitors. Featured faculty presenters in this session will include Benjamin P. Levy, MD, Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, Helena A. Yu, MD, Balazs Halmos, MD, and Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD.

Additional Topics

Other relevant topics to be covered at the conference include a mid-day session on targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway in lung cancer, including presentations on new applications for anti-VEGF antibodies, and recent developments with antibodies that target another component in the VEGF pathway, the VEGF receptor (eg, ramucirumab). Featured faculty for this session will include Kris and Heather A. Wakelee, MD. The day’s events will also include morning and afternoon sessions moderated by Abraham Chachoua, MD, and Steven E. Vogl, MD, respectively, which will feature challenging lung cancer cases, providing insight on how participants might integrate big meeting clinical data into their everyday practice. The conference will wrap up with a presentation by Richard J. Gralla, MD, on the continuing role of cytotoxic agents in the treatment of lung cancer (ie, when to use them and for how long).

A Word From the Cochair

According to Perez-Soler, participants will appreciate the local, open-forum, and inclusive nature of the New York conference compared with some of the large, multinational meetings, where the bulk of major clinical trial findings are presented. A benefit of this type of informal meeting will be the focus on immunotherapy, about which a great deal of data has been emerging over the last few years, Perez-Soler said.

“We have seen, at all the big meetings, that immunotherapy is showing activity with a variety of compounds… this conference is meant to be an open forum, where local academic oncologists and the community practitioners can come together to discuss the real-world implications of these data and what it means for treating their patients in everyday practice. As oncologists, we want to come together and discuss whether these therapies are as good as they say—what are the problems, the toxicities, how do we manage patients on these drugs, and how can we optimize these therapies? What are the real-world implications of these data for treating patients?” Perez-Soler said.

Further information about the conference can be found on the Web site:

http://www.gotoper.com/conferences/nyl/meetings/10th-annual-new-york-lung-cancer-symposium