A symposium aiming to offer a greater understanding of the tumor microenvironment, immune tolerogenic niches at cancer initiation, and novel immunotherapeutic strategies in head and neck cancer patients was featured on the 52nd Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the AADOCR, held along side the forty seventh Annual Meeting of the CADR. The AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting & Exhibition took place on the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on March 15-18, 2023.

Cancer immunotherapy has arisen as a promising latest treatment modality for head and neck cancer (HNC), built on an increased understanding of tumor immunology during the last 20 years. Nonetheless, it has develop into clear that not all tumors are created equal in the case of their immune profiles, and lots of are proof against immunotherapy. Thus, there’s a necessity to raised understand the complex tumor microenvironment to more accurately determine prognosis and design therapeutic strategies able to rendering tumors prone to immunotherapy and the immunologic effects of conventional therapies.

Organized by Simon Young of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, this symposium provided a high-level overview of exciting developments in understanding the tumor microenvironment, each when it comes to the complex immunosuppressive mechanics of the extracellular matrix, the creation of an immune tolerogenic area of interest at cancer initiation, and the way novel immunotherapeutic strategies can goal the hostile the tumor immune microenvironment in head and neck cancer. A broad spectrum of experience was represented by featured clinician-scientist speakers: topics included current challenges in HNC surgical oncologic ablation strategies and formation of the immune tolerogenic area of interest at cancer initiation. This was followed by novel strategies to focus on fibrotic inflammation and biomaterial-based strategies for cancer immunotherapy and delivery of therapeutics to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

The symposium targeted dental students, post-graduate students, dentists, dentist-scientists, and scientists who wished to expand their knowledge of the tumor immune microenvironment and the way cancer immunotherapy will impact head and neck cancer patients. This session was geared towards clinicians and researchers alike.

Source:

International Association for Dental Research