Defence is the Best Attack 2019: A Participant’s View

Home institution and country: Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), The Netherlands

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common and deadly cancers. Therefore, there is a requirement for new and effective treatments to improve patient outcomes. The most recently developed immunotherapies are only beneficial for a minority of colorectal cancer patients (up to 10%). We explored whether alternative strategies based on the stimulation of a patient’s immune cells with cancer-derived proteins could be employed to expand the number of patients that can benefit from immunotherapy. This approach has proven successful and our data supports that additional patients might benefit from immunotherapeutic approaches.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

I really enjoyed the opportunity to present my research and work during the Proffered Paper talk. As a PhD student who has just finished my first year, it was an excellent experience and a great opportunity to exchange ideas, expand my network and receive input on my work.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

The small setting of this conference really enhanced data discussions among all attendees. Additionally, most presenters showed unpublished data to a level that not all other conferences reach. I think this is a very valuable element of the meeting and is essential to bring science forward as fast and efficient as possible.

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research?

During the poster sessions, breaks and the conference dinner I met a lot of interesting people. Following the conference, I have remained in contact with several attendees to set up collaborations for further studies. In addition, I also received some help in specific protocols, and can offer my expertise to others that were inspired by the techniques I discussed.

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural in your free time outside of the conference?

I visited La Pededra in Barcelona, one of the famous Gaudí buildings. Exploring the local culture, buildings and cuisine forms a great setting for networking and enhancing collaborations in a more informal setting.

Home institution and country: Centre for Oncological Research, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Pancreatic cancer is still one of the most lethal cancers worldwide today. There is a very high grade of resistance to virtually every known therapy. In my PhD project, we aim to attack this cancer with a unique combination immunotherapy. This approach helps the patients’ defence system to fight the cancer. The unique property in my project is that we simultaneously boost the immune system and take away the immunosuppressive break the cancer has on this system. This way, we are maximising the effect of the treatment and fight this cancer on several fronts.

Were there any social/networking highlights you want to tell us about?

After Dr. Yotam Bar-Ephreim’s talk, I had an interesting discussion with him during lunch on his intriguing work on cancer organoids. Our mutual interest in this topic resulted in a nice exchange of knowledge on the subject and might be the base for a future collaboration between our labs in Belgium and The Netherlands.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

This conference was focussed on immune-oncology, which was perfect for cancer researchers in this field. Several very high quality talks made this conference really worth attending. In addition, the poster session was a highlight because the somewhat limited amount of posters enabled a more thorough chat with the poster presenters.

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

I really appreciated the free ticket to visit the unique conference venue ‘Le Pedreda’. It is a marvellous piece of architecture from the brilliant hand of Gaudí. Taking in the fresh air on the magnificent roof terrace was the perfect moment to relax.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

I really enjoyed Professor Flavell’s lecture on the evolution of humanised mouse models. Thanks to his extensive career in the field, he provided an inspiring overview of the work he has been doing. It was the most enjoyable talk of the conference and an absolute honour to witness such a great scientist talking about his work with so much passion and enthusiasm.

Home institution and country: Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Tumours contain immune cells that can recognise and destroy cancerous cells. However, tumour cells often disguise as normal cells to escape this destruction. We aim to develop a method to culture mini-tumours (‘organoids’) with immune cells to screen for new targets stimulating tumour destruction by immune cells. In parellel, we culture mini-guts from healthy tissue of the same patients to validate the targets we find are indeed tumour specific. This way, we hope to open new avenues to personalized therapy to cancer.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

The keynote talks were inspiring, and I found particular interest in Richard Flavell’s talk on the different strategies to generate well-functioning HIS mice. While this is not a subject I am familiar with, his talk certainly opened my eyes to the potential and different caveats of these models.

Were there any social/networking highlights you want to tell us about?

During the entire meeting, especially during the poster sessions, I had the privilege of discussing my data with other scientists. While I did not set up new collaborations directly, talking to other scientists about their data was extremely informative. Talking to other people and learning about how they approach science and the techniques they use in their labs will be very valuable when searching for new collaborations in the future.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

To date, I have attended many conferences where it was too big and networking was very difficult. The conference’s relatively small size and its intimate setting provided a low threshold environment which in my experience encouraged discussion and networking. The conference venue was inspiring. The central location allowed me to enjoy Barcelona.

I was happy to share my experiences

Did you take part in any interesting local/culture activities in your free time outside of the conference?

Outside of the conference, I enjoyed the marvelous city of Barcelona by simply walking its streets. The central location of the venue proofed perfect in that respect. Touristic places such as the Placa Catalunya and the Sagrada Familia were within walking distance and the venue itself is a wonderful place. Being able to visit La Pedreda after the conference was an experience I would recommend anyone who visits Barcelona.

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about? 

Coming back to my home lab, I was happy to share my experiences with my colleagues. My lab colleagues were especially interested in the technical developments that were presented, such as 10x Genomics and their tissue based platform. I personally found the bispecific antibodies presented by Roche interesting and am sure people in the lab would like to use this technique in the future. In addition, my lab colleagues were intrigued by Nuria Lopez-Bigas’ presentation on the intogen platform. We believe this can lead us to new driver mutations we can model and validate in organoids.

Home institution and country: University of Virginia, United States

We aim to unravel mechanisms involved in T cell retention in the tumour microenvironment. We know that T cells can bind to stromal components of the environment, such as collagens, through specific receptors called integrins. Therefore, we seek to understand the role of these integrins in T cell retention in the tumour environment specifically, as well as their direct role in T cell survival and function.

The biggest highlight was definitely presenting my work at an international meeting for the very first time in my career

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

Compared to other conferences, it was much smaller with much more diversity in speakers. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet both well-established and early-in-their-career investigators. This allows students like me to not only learn about interesting science, but also learn about the career path towards becoming an independent investigator.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

The biggest highlight was definitely presenting my work at an international meeting for the very first time in my career. It was a great (though slightly nerve wrecking) experience. The subsequent feedback and discussions that resulted from my presentation were incredibly helpful for both my project and collaborative opportunities. The questions and feedback I received have already helped me shape my project and the way I want to write my manuscript.

It has certainly inspired me

Were there any social/networking highlight you want to tell us about?

I had the opportunity to meet and talk to several speakers. Two of these speakers could hopefully hold potential for a postdoctoral position in the future. Their work is amazing and their dedication to research is very inspiring. The small venue and smaller group of speakers was ideal for these meetings to occur.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

It has certainly inspired me to start thinking more outside of T cell infiltration. The interplay between myeloid cells and lymphocytes could be really important in my project and this is an aspect I have not yet addressed. There were several very interesting talks addressing the myeloid compartment in cancer progression and metastasis. There are some components of the mechanisms through which myeloid cells play a role that I could incorporate in my project fairly easily.

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

I stayed in Barcelona for an additional two days after the conference and enjoyed the local cuisine (and amazing Spanish wine!) as well as some cultural sites and the beach. Park Guell was probably my favourite site, it is beautiful and the view of the city is amazing.

Home institution and country: University of Liverpool, UK

It was originally thought that our immune system is able to protect us from tumour development. Recent evidence suggest that cancer cells hijack some immune cells and use them for their own benefit. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. It is a highly metastatic tumour and is characterised by high infiltration of immune cells, specifically macrophages. My research shows that macrophages promote pancreatic cancer metastasis formation in the liver by helping tumour cells to escape from being recognised and killed by anti-tumour effector immune cells.

Attending this conference was really important for my career development.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

I particularly liked this conference because together with high quality scientific talks and numerous networking reception opportunities there was also a big trade exhibition and the possibility to talk with people representing companies and get informed about the newest research tools and instruments.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

Attending this conference was really important for my career development. It gave me the opportunity to learn about the latest advances in the field of cancer immunology. At the workshop, there was an extensive debate about the major benefits and the main limitations of the use immunotherapy into clinic. There was also a critical discussion about combining immunotherapy with other anti-cancer treatments. I presented a poster of my PhD research topic and during the poster-viewing sessions I had the chance to discuss my research with early career scientists and established researchers. Unexpectedly, I was also awarded a poster prize, I was honoured to receive it!

Were there any social/networking highlights you want to tell us about?

There were many networking sessions and it was easy to communicate with early-stage and senior scientists. I thought this was great because in our job we read papers all the time and we have to be constantly up-to-date with new discoveries. Attending a conference where it was easy to talk with authors of excellent scientific research papers and big names in the field of immune-oncology was a privilege. For example, during my PhD, Johanna Joyce’s articles and review really inspired my research. I had the amazing opportunity to meet her in person at the conference!

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

One of the amazing features of Defence is the Best Attack 2019 was the venue. The conference was hosted at ‘Casa Milá’, one of the most famous constructions of the architect Gaudi and part of UNESCO world heritage. During the free time outside of the conference I could visit the house and its fabulous roof. It was a very unique opportunity.