FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Don Jewler, ACCC Communications Director
301.984.9496, ext. 208
djewler@accc-cancer.org
For Immediate Release: April 2, 2008
Cancer Vaccines: How Close Are We to Their Widespread Use?
ROCKVILLE, MD—Preventive and therapeutic cancer vaccines are on the fast-track to development. How do they work? How safe are they? A panel of national experts will explore which preventive cancer vaccines are already being used and promoted, and how close we are to therapeutic vaccines against melanoma, prostate cancer, lymphomas, and head and neck cancers, among others. They’ll look at the challenges to widespread use of cancer vaccines, including education, cost, and duration of effect.
Attention will focus on preventive vaccines against cervical cancer. Seventy percent of cervical cancers are caused by the two most common human papillomaviruses: HPV-16 and HPV-18. The association between HPV and cervical cancer is higher than that between smoking and lung cancer. And yet, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved the cancer prevention vaccine HPV-16/18/6/11—and others are in the pipeline, there is a widespread lack of understanding between the association of HPV infection to cervical abnormalities as well as to other malignancies, including head and neck, vaginal, anal, and penile cancers. What are the barriers to using the HPV vaccine? Are we reaching the women that need the vaccine the most? Are women understanding that the vaccine is another piece, not a replacement, for cervical cancer prevention? Explore the answers.
Vaccine clinics are already being established. Learn more about vaccine clinics and how they can be helpful as a community service for physicians and patients.
1:00 pm–2:30 pm
New Technology Panel: The Present and Future of Cancer Vaccines
Moderator: Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group
Panel: Natalie Sacks, MD, Cell Genesys; Soldano Ferrone, MD, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Kenneth A. Foon, MD, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
3:00 pm–4:00 pm
Concurrent Technology Sessions
Technology I: Prostate Cancer Vaccines
Speaker: Natalie Sacks, MD, Cell Genesys, Inc.
Technology II: Melanoma Cancer Vaccines
Speaker: Soldano Ferrone, MD, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Technology III: Cancer Vaccine Clinical Trials
Speaker: Kenneth A. Foon, MD, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Technology IV: Development of a Model Vaccine Center Program
Speaker: Mark H. Einstein, MD, Montefiore Medical Center
The Association of Community Cancer Centers provides a national forum for addressing issues that affect community cancer programs, such as regulatory and legislative issues, measurements of the quality of care, and clinical research. Its unique membership of more than 650 hospital cancer programs and oncology private practices includes all members of the cancer care team: medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cancer program administrators and medical directors, oncology nurses, pharmacists, radiation therapists, oncology social workers, and cancer program data managers.
