October 19-22
The Eighth IMIG meeting was held in Chicago IL at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers and organized by Hedy Kindler and Samuel Armato. This was a large and successful meeting that was held in parallel with the annual MARF meeting.
More than 300 attendees from 26 countries attended.
The meeting featured workshops, debates, and poster sessions and breakout symposia.
Workshop topics included:
● The clinical relevance of mouse models for mesothelioma
● Developing the next generation of clinical trials
● Immunology and immunotherapy
● Imaging
● Surgical pitfalls and challenges
● Peritoneal mesothelioma
● Pathology
There were also two Satellite Symposia, on Apoptosis and on Supportive Care. There were two lively debates, one on the role of SV-40 as a potential cause of mesothelioma, and one on the role of radical surgery in the management of this disease. There was a Joint Lunch with the attendees of MARF that featured a visit from Senator Richard J. Durbin (D, IL).
The meeting abstracts were published in a Supplement of the Journal Lung Cancer [1].
The workshops generated 2 manuscripts:
- An IMIG consensus statement on pathologic diagnosis in mesothelioma [2]
- An update on imaging in mesothelioma [3]
A summary of the meeting was published in Oncogene [4]
Wagner Award: Harvey Pass
Young Investigator Prizes:
- Ting-Yuan David Cheng, Baltimore, MD Quantifying the risks of mesothelioma and lung cancer from environmental crocidolite exposure in Da-yao, China.
- Helman Alfonso, Crawley, Australia. Vitamin A and cancer prevention in workers previously exposed to asbestos in Wittenoom.
- Brock Christensen, Boston, MA. Asbestos burden, epigenetic silencing, and survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma.
- Andrew Holloway, East Melbourne, Australia. Gene expression profiling in an SV40 larget T antigen expressing transgenic mesothelioma model. Implications for a role for SV40 in human mesothelioma?
- Ro-Ting Lin, Kitakyushu, Japan. The global asbestos epidemic and its reflections in the recent Japanese experience.
Sheelu Varghese, Baltimore, MD. Gene expression profiling of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma identifies novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
Carrying on a long-standing IMIG tradition, this meeting was also noteworthy for its terrific parties. Attendees were welcomed on a foggy, rainy night at a reception in the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center, a place usually known for its spectacular views. They traveled by a traditional Chicago trolley to visit the Field Museum for a guided private tour of the spectacular exhibit “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs” followed by a lovely dinner. The closing Gala Reception was held at the International Museum of Surgical Science.
Publications:
(1) Abstracts of the 8th International Conference of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. Lung Cancer, Volume 54, Supplement 1, October 2006, S1-S60.
(2) Husain AN, Colby TV, Ordóñez NG, Krausz T, Borczuk A, Cagle PT, Chirieac LR, Churg A, Galateau-Salle F, Gibbs AR, Gown AM, Hammar SP, Litzky LA, Roggli VL, Travis WD, Wick MR. Guidelines for pathologic diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma: a consensus statement from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2009 Aug;133(8):1317-31.
(3) Armato SG 3rd, Entwisle J, Truong MT, Nowak AK, Ceresoli GL, Zhao B, Misri R, Kindler HL. Current state and future directions of pleural mesothelioma imaging. Lung Cancer. 2008 Mar;59(3):411-20.
(4) Review: Eighth IMIG. Oncogene 26:6959-6967, 2007.
Program (download)