New conference tackles the tough questions in lung cancer

Lugano, Switzerland, 4th April 2008 –Experts from around the world are gathering in Geneva next month at a new conference that aims to improve lung cancer treatment and answer unsolved questions about a disease that kills 1.5 million people each year.

The First European Lung Cancer Conference is an initiative of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). It will be held from 23 to 26 April.

"The main objective of this meeting is to advance the quality of lung cancer treatment and find answers to unsolved problems which can contribute substantially to the improvement of patient survival," said Prof. Françoise Mornex, France, Scientific Co-Chair of the conference.

The meeting will include new scientific and clinical results from presented abstracts, as well as invited plenary speeches from top international experts.

Prof. Joseph Nevins from the Duke University Medical Center, US and Prof. David Beer from the University of Michigan, US will present new data showing how genetic signatures in early lung cancer can help doctors tailor treatments more effectively.

"The current methods for staging early lung cancer have limited success in predicting which patients will be cured and which will have cancer recurrence," says Prof. Rafael Rosell, Spain, the other Scientific Co-Chair of the conference. "This is a good example of one of the unsolved problems in lung cancer treatment we hope to address at this meeting."

“Two significant controversy sessions will address new concepts in the treatment of both early and advanced lung cancer,” announces Prof. Mornex: the use of alternative efficient treatments such as radiofrequency and radiation versus surgery in early lung cancer, and the role of surgery as a standard treatment for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer.

Other highlights of the conference will include a report about a new, highly accurate diagnostic test for lung squamous cell carcinoma, studies probing the role human viruses play in lung cancers, positive results from a trial of immunotherapy to treat lung cancer, and efficacy and safety results from an interim analysis of a phase III trial on stage IIIB-IV non–small-cell lung cancer.

"The conference will also feature workshops on molecular biology and targeted therapies that embody part of the future of lung cancer treatment," said Prof. Rosell.

"We hope that the work presented at the conference in these areas will contribute to great advances for many lung cancer patients."

Notes to Editors