Second Head and Neck Cancer Symposium a Big Success

On September 21, 2015, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute co-hosted the second Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. This event, titled From Pathways to Therapies, brought together experts from across the country to present on current research, developments, challenges, and therapies in head and neck cancer. Well over one hundred faculty, clinicians, researchers, residents and students attended the symposium.

After welcoming remarks from Associate Dean for Research Dr. M. Kukuruzinska, Dean Jeffrey Hutter, BU VP for research Gloria Waters , and Dr. Robert Haddad, Disease Center Leader, Head & Neck Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the symposium consisted of four sessions with presentations and interactive panel discussions: Targeting Pathways and Epidemiology; New Technologies and Patient Care Delivery; Current and Future Therapies; and Clinical Problems and Challenges. Dr. Lewis C. Cantley, Director of the Cancer Center and Professor of Cancer Biology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, gave a stimulating keynote address on Targeting PI 3-Kinase for Cancer Therapy.

“We developed the symposium to bring basic scientists and clinicians together to discuss the latest developments in head and neck Cancer research and therapy,” said Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska, Associate Dean for Research at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. “It is my belief and hope that the interactions today and the development of new collaborations will expedite the development of new strategies for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.”

The symposium also included poster presentations on current head and neck cancer research. Two winners were selected by a review committee and were presented with a certificate and monetary prize near the end of the event.

The runner-up prize was awarded for “Suppression of cell debris-stimulated head & neck cancer progression”, presented by  Molly Gilligan, a research assistant in Dr. Dipak Panigraphy’s laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The first prize was awarded for “PARP-1 functions during HPV infection and in head and neck carcinogenesis”, presented by Dr. Andrew Sewell from the Department of Surgery, Otolaryngology, at Yale University.

The day’s closing remarks were given by Dr. Carter Van Waes of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health.

Afterwards, attendees had an opportunity to mingle and network at the closing reception. Feedback from participants has been very positive, and the next Head and Neck Cancer Symposium will be held in 2017.

“This symposium was a wonderful event that brought together preeminent scientists and clinicians working towards a cure for head and neck cancers,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “It is my hope that many of the connections made at this event will lead to research collaborations and advances in head and neck cancer therapy that will have a significant impact on patients in the future.”

The presentations were:

• Peter Hammerman, MD, PhD: “Genomics of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Lung Cancers”
• Maura Gillison, MD, PhD: “Gender and HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer”
• Sara Pai, MD, PhD: “Targeting Immune Checkpoint Pathways in HPV-associated Head and Neck Cancers”
• Jorge Frias-Lopez, PhD: “Metatranscriptome of Inflammatory Diseases: Lessons Learned from Periodontitis”
• Lewis Cantley, PhD: “Targeting PI 3-Kinase for Cancer Therapy”
• Gregory Grillone, MD: “The Color of Cancer”
• Danielle Margalit, MD, MPH: “Advances in Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer”
• Mark Grinstaff, PhD: “Expansile Nanoparticles for Imaging and Drug Delivery”
• Barbara Burtness, MD: “Precision Medicine and HPV-Negative Head and Neck Cancer”
• Bert O’Malley Jr., MD: “The “TORS Paradigm” for Oropharyngeal Cancer”
• Robert Haddad, MD: “Immunotherapy trials in Head and Neck Cancer”
• James Rocco, MD, PhD: “Increased mortality in HNSCC patients with high intratumor heterogeneity”
• Scott Lippman, MD: “Targeting Genetic Drivers in Oral Premalignancy”
• Radhika Chigurupati, DMD, MS: “Global Burden of Head and Neck Cancers”
• Christopher Lathan, MD, MS, MPH: “Racial Disparities in Head and Neck Cancers”