Sidra to host conference on breast cancer

The first international conference on breast cancer immunotherapy will be held in Doha on April 13 and 14, host Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) announced Monday.
Sidra is hosting the conference in partnership with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).
The Breast Cancer Immunotherapy Conference (BRECIS) will focus on immunobiology and immunotherapeutic developments.
Sidra Tumour Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section Director Davide Bedognetti said, "World's top researchers in breast cancer immunotherapy will present their recent findings as well as discuss the first clinical trials demonstrating the use of immunotherapy." Recent successes of immunotherapy in cancers such as melanoma and kidney cancer, breast cancer immunotherapy is becoming a key focus for cancer researchers around the world, including here at Sidra, he said.
Immunotherapy uses a person's own immune system to kill cancer cells by stimulating the immune system. It is currently considered a ground-breaking treatment for cancer, Sidra said, citing reference from 'Cancer Immunotherapy: Breakthrough of the Year for 2013'.
BRECIS will also discuss topics such as genetic risk factors of breast cancer in Arab populations; breast cancer control in Qatar; the prognostic and predictive role of immune biomarkers of response to cancer immunotherapy; and the description of novel immunotherapeutic approaches.
BRECIS will feature experts from Sidra, Hamad Medical Corporation, Weill-Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Qatar Computing Research Institute, along with researchers from prestigious institutions such as John Hopkins University, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Heidelberg University, Jackson Laboratory, New York University and the University of Washington, Sidra said.