Report on the ISBTC mini-symposium on biologic effects of targeted therapeutics.

The International Society for Biologic Therapy of Cancer held a mini-symposium on October 26, 2006 in Los Angeles to review current information regarding the biologic effects of both standard and targeted therapies. The purpose of the mini-symposium was to describe the existing knowledge regarding various biologic effects of current therapies, identify the most relevant issues and gaps in the knowledge base and discuss the optimal means of obtaining necessary missing information. Topics discussed included: (1) The impact of antitumor monoclonal antibody therapy on antigen presentation and adaptive immunity; (2) the effects of antiangiogenic/targeted therapy of the immune system; (3) the impact of chemotherapy on angiogenesis and immune function; (4) combination of antiangiogenic and immunotherapy at the clinical level; (5) the effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors on TH1/TH2 response and T-regulatory cells; (6) the impact of farnesyltransferase inhibitors and other targeted agents on T-cell activation; (7) the impact of epigenetic modulators on biologic properties, and (8) the impact of the nature of cell death on the immune system. The ultimate goals of this mini-symposium were to use the above information to inform and influence basic science efforts and discussions, rationally design combination treatment regimens and optimally employ correlative studies in the context of ongoing and future clinical investigations.