Basic and clinical science advances were featured prominently at the recent Society for Neuro-Oncology meeting held in San Antonio, November 19-22, 2015.
Dr. David Gutmann, Director of the Washington University Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center, organized a basic science symposium on Friday morning. Presentations focused on using small-animal models of NF1-associated optic gliomas to improve outcomes for children with these tumors as well as discovering new treatments for malignant cancers in NF1.
In addition, on Saturday afternoon, Dr. Gutmann chaired a clinical symposium focused on clinical drug trials for children and adults with NF1 and NF2. During this exciting series of lectures, Dr. D. Wade Clapp, MD, the Richard L. Schreiner Professor and Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, spoke about how small-animal models can be employed to accelerate the identification and translation of promising chemotherapies to human clinical evaluation.
Dr. Roger Packer, MD, Senior Vice President of the Center for Neuroscience & Behavioral Health at Children’s National Medical Center, presented the structure of the Department of Defense-funded NF Clinical Trials Consortium, while Drs. Michael Fisher, MD, Director of the Neurofibromatosis Program and Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Scott Plotkin, MD, PhD, Director of the Neurofibromatosis Program and Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, spoke about recent clinical chemotherapy trials in NF1 and NF2, respectively, executed through this groundbreaking consortium.
More information about this program can be found on the Society for Neuro-Oncology website.