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The All-Ireland Cancer Conference
Robert Hoover, Richard Hayes, and Stephen Chanock defend the epidemiologic and genetic ramparts at the All-Ireland Cancer Conference.
In December, DCEG scientists joined cancer researchers from Ireland and the United Kingdom for the fourth All-Ireland Cancer Conference, held by the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium. The consortium, established in 1999, aims to reduce the burden of cancer in Ireland through scientific collaborations with NCI. This year’s conference, held in Dublin, covered a range of topics from patient care to genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
Stephen J. Chanock, M.D., Director of the Core Genotyping Facility and Chief of the Laboratory of Translational Genomics, Robert N. Hoover, M.D., Sc.D., Director of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, and Richard B. Hayes, D.D.S., Ph.D., senior investigator in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, presented a session on “State of the science: Cancer genomics and genome-wide association studies.” Dr. Chanock, who chaired the session, provided an overview of GWAS in which he described recent discoveries by the NCI Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility project, the challenges encountered in genetic mapping of cancer susceptibility, and the future promise afforded by studies of germline genetic variation in disease risk. Dr. Hoover followed with a discussion on genetic and non-genetic risk factors associated with breast cancer, including the role of hormones in breast cancer risk as well as findings from GWAS on gene regions associated with breast cancer. Dr. Hayes concluded by presenting advances in genetics research on colon and rectal cancer risk, such as the discovery of 8q24 and other colorectal cancer–associated gene regions.
Later in the week, Drs. Chanock and Hoover taught a Cancer Genomics Master Class at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, St. James’s Hospital and Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Chanock presented “The devil is in the DNA: The power of cancer genomics,” and Dr. Hoover spoke on “The evolution of epidemiological research, from cottage industry to ‘big science.’”
Dr. Hoover stated that his personal highlight from the conference was seeing presentations made by the young scientists from Ireland and NCI. He was very encouraged by their enthusiasm and the collaboration of individuals from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland toward a unified goal of improving cancer outcomes. Many NCI postdoctoral fellows attended the conference, including Gwen Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H., a native of Ireland and a visiting fellow in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB), and Dr. Lesley Anderson, a former IIB cancer prevention fellow, both of whom presented work from their fellowship experience at NCI.
—Cherie M. Vitartas, M.P.H.
