2015 AAAS Annual Meeting (12-16 February 2015)

February 12 - 16, 2015

Imaging the Future of Cancer Research

In 2012, more than 14 million people worldwide were diagnosed with cancer, and over 8 million people died from cancer-related diseases. While for the vast majority of cancers the identity of the cells responsible for tumour initiation is still unknown, recent findings suggest that stem cells may be potential candidates for initiating certain cancer types, such as haematological cancers. Stem cells reside and self-renew within tissues over long periods of time, which increases the risk of their accumulating mutations that could lead to cancer formation. This session focuses on frontier research that uses cutting edge imaging techniques to identify and track the cells responsible for tumour initiation and also for their metastatic growth and spread.  Cancer cell migration can now be followed both over an individual cancer cell's entire lifetime and also, in the case of stem cells, over several lineages. The challenges of using 3D imaging systems to visualize cells buried deep inside tissue and to follow them during metastatic invasive spread will be discussed. Our speakers, who apply a systems approach combining cell biology, imaging, molecular genetics and engineering, will outline their exciting findings which could lead to entirely unchartered avenues in the discovery of novel biomarkers for cancer detection and diagnosis and effective new therapies.