The First Scientific Meeting of the Serbian Association of Cancer Researchers was held at the Sava Center in Belgrade on November 29th and 30th, 2012. The scientific event was organized within the framework of the 49th Oncology Week, a meeting of the Serbian Medical Society. Innovations in cancer research were the main topic of the First Scientific Meeting of SDIR. We hope that we were able to present new insights into basic and translational cancer research.
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| prof. Sonja Levanat and dr Zorica Juranić (from left to right) |
prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld |
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| prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld and prof. Sonja Levanat (from left to right) |
PhD students: Ana Damjanović Veličković, Ivana Matić, Branka Kolundžija and Nađa Grozdanić Stanisavljević (from left to right) |
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| Katarina Jovanović, Ksenija Brotto, Zaki Abu Rabi, Emina Mališić and Radmila Janković (from left to right) | Ana Vuletić, Miodrag Gužvić and Ivana Božović (from left to right) |
Our invited speakers were Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld and Prof. Sonja Levanat, the president of the Croatian Society for Cancer Research (HDIR). The EACR sponsored both lectures. Prof. Shoenfeld from Israel gave a lecture on the potential role of vitamin D in the prevention of malignant and autoimmune diseases, with a special emphasis on the connection between immunity and cancer. Prof. Sonja Levanat presented new data on the role of the Hedgehog signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer and colon cancer, and highlighted the npotential therapeutic value of inhibitors targeting the Hh-Gli pathway. Dr. Zorica Juranić, the president of SDIR, emphasized the importance of nutrition in cancer prevention, presenting results from her laboratory’s research, as well as new data from the literature in this scientific field. We were honored by the participation of Prof. Engin Ulukaya, president of the Turkish Association for Molecular Cancer Research, at our first scientific meeting.
25 high-quality poster presentations were presented during the poster session, which facilitated the exchange of new scientific information in oncology through engaging discussions. The participants presented results from various fields of cancer research, such as antitumor agents, tumor biology, molecular genetics of cancer, tumor immunology, and translational research in oncology. The EACR provided monetary awards for the three best posters (first prize – 300 €, and two second prizes – 2x 100 €). The winners had the opportunity to present their results orally. The members of the Poster Award Committee were: Prof. Ljiljana Vučković-Dekić, Dr. Gordana Bogdanović, and Dr. Zorica Tomašević. Miodrag Gužvić won the first prize with the poster titled: “Identification and molecular characterization of precursor cells of prostate cancer metastasis.” The second prize was awarded to Ivana Božović (poster titled “Prognostic, predictive significance and concordance of Bcl2 and tp53 protein expression in primary breast cancer and axillary lymph nodes”). An additional second prize was given to Ana Vuletić (poster titled “In vitro activation of NK cells from regional lymph nodes of melanoma patients with IL-2 and IL-15 is associated with perforin production and increased expression of several activation receptors on NK cells”).
In order to strengthen the valuable collaboration between cancer researchers and clinicians, which is crucial for real progress in oncology, we decided to organize our First Scientific Meeting as part of the 49th Cancer Week, the largest oncology meeting in Serbia. Therefore, our first scientific meeting represented a good opportunity not only for the integration of basic and clinical research but also for the promotion of SDIR. This year, one of the main topics of the 49th Cancer Week was the role of infectious agents as causative factors in malignant diseases; approximately 450 participants attended the meeting (doctors, cancer researchers, nurses).
We owe a great debt of gratitude to EACR for their generous support and sponsorship of the First Scientific Meeting of SDIR. Special thanks go to Dr. Svetislav Jelić, president of the Cancer Section of the Serbian Medical Society, and Dr. Zora Nešković-Konstantinović for their help in organizing our first scientific meeting. We also thank the speakers for their exceptional presentations, the members of the Poster Award Committee, and all the participants of the meeting for the valuable exchange of information in the field of cancer research.
President of SDIR
Dr. Zorica Juranić