Translating Science into Survival: Report on the Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference.

The inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, cohosted by the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT), and the European Academy of Tumor Immunology (EATI), was held in New York City on September 16­19, 2015. The conference brought together nearly 1,400 scientists, clinicians, regulators, patient advocates, and other stakeholders to discuss the latest scientific developments in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, as well as the regulatory hurdles facing new drug development. This conference report summarizes the main themes that emerged during the 4-day meeting.

De-Risking Immunotherapy: Report of a Consensus Workshop of the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute.

With the recent FDA approvals of pembrolizumab and nivolumab, and a host of additional immunomodulatory agents entering clinical development each year, the field of cancer immunotherapy is changing rapidly. Strategies that can assist researchers in choosing the most promising drugs and drug combinations to move forward through clinical development are badly needed in order to reduce the likelihood of late-stage clinical trial failures. On October 5, 2014, the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute, a collaborative think tank composed of stakeholders from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and patient interest groups, met to discuss strategies for de-risking immunotherapy development, with a focus on integrating preclinical and clinical studies, and conducting smarter early-phase trials, particularly for combination therapies. Several recommendations were made, including making better use of clinical data to inform preclinical research, obtaining adequate tissues for biomarker studies, and choosing appropriate clinical trial endpoints to identify promising drug candidates and combinations in nonrandomized early-phase trials.