"Clearly, we are on the verge of an exciting journey in the history of cancer research," said Lynn Matrisian, Ph.D., president of the AACR. "The AACR Annual Meeting will guide our future efforts as we work to find newer and more effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the 200 or so diseases we collectively call cancer."

This year's Annual Meeting will highlight new understandings and innovative technologies across the scientific spectrum, from basic and translational cancer research to clinical studies.

"In our efforts to communicate with each other and the public, we often refer to the metaphor of a pipeline to describe the scientific process, with the output of that pipeline taking the form of new diagnostic tools and devices, vaccines and drugs," said Michael B. Kastan, M.D., Ph.D., scientific chairperson of the 2005 AACR Program Committee.

"But it is important to note that any pipeline, by its very nature, has a front, middle, and end. Each is necessary and each is interdependent.

"At this Annual Meeting, scientists from basic, translational and clinical research will exchange information and learn from each other with the understanding that each has an essential role and each has a common mission: the prevention and cure of cancer."

Presentations at this meeting will run the gamut: from new insights into the fundamental nature of the cancer process to new ways of inhibiting those processes, from novel approaches to prevent and diagnose cancer before it becomes life-threatening to new therapies capable of targeting tumors while limiting damage to healthy cells and tissue.

The opening plena
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Contact: Warren R. Froelich
froelich@aacr.org
215-440-9300
American Association for Cancer Research
8-Apr-2005