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2009-2010 Central Brain Tumor Registry of the US Statistical Report

Jan Esenwein — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:00:00 GMT

The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) announces the publication of its latest statistical report, 2009-2010 CBTRUS Statistical Report: Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2004-2006 (available online at www.cbtrus.org). Data collected by the National Program of Cancer Registries (CDC) and SEER (NCI) from 47 population-based cancer registries were analyzed resulting in an incidence rate of 18.71 cases per 100,000 person-years for all primary brain & central nervous system (CNS) tumors. CBTRUS estimates that 62,930 new cases of primary non-malignant and malignant brain and CNS tumors are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2010. Meningioma had the highest incidence and accounted for 33.8% of all primary brain tumors in 2004-2006. Gliomas, including glioblastoma, accounted for 32% of these tumors and 80% of all malignant brain tumors.

This Statistical Report continues the past efforts CBTRUS has made to provide accurate, population–based incidence rates for all primary brain and CNS tumors by histology, age, gender, race and Hispanic origin. As in previous reports, these data have been listed in histologic groupings with improved clinical relevance

Funding for the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States in 2008-2009 has been provided by the American Brain Tumor Association (www.abta.org) , the National Brain Tumor Society (www.braintumor.org) , the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (www.pbtfus.org) and from the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under contract # HHSN26100800766P.

Printed booklets may be requested by contacting cbtrus@aol.com.

20-Mar-10 10:00 AM

Sontag Foundation $600,000 Brain Tumor Research Awards

Kay Verble — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:00:00 GMT

Sontag Foundation Accepting Applications for $600,000 Brain Tumor Research Awards

Application Deadline: Noon, Wednesday March 24, 2010

Applications are now being accepted for Distinguished Scientist Awards - The Sontag Foundation's four-year, $600,000 career development/brain tumor research grants. Eligible applicants must be within the first three years of their first independent faculty appointment at a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) academic, research, or medical institution within the United States or an equivalent institution in Canada.

Proposed project must demonstrate potential to generate new knowledge relating to causes, cure or treatment of primary brain tumors/brain cancer. The Sontag Foundation anticipates awarding grants to the three most outstanding candidates in 2010.

Full eligibility criteria and required forms are available at http://www.sontagfoundation.org/grant_opps/grant_opps_dsa.htm. BEFORE forwarding any questions to info@sontagfoundation.org, please consult FAQ at
http://www.sontagfoundation.org/grant_opps/grant_opps_dsa_faq.htm

Kay W. Verble, Executive Director
The Sontag Foundation
816 A1A North, Suite 201
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
904.273.8755
info@sontagfoundation.org

2-Mar-10 2:00 PM

New Funding Opportunities -- 2010 Ivy Awards

Chas Haynes — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:30:00 GMT

The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation is interested in funding projects on the leading edge whose primary objective is to accomplish one or more of the following in a 12-month project period starting no later than July 2010:

1. Enhance the output of a clinical trial for adults with GBM by performing correlative studies which significantly increase understanding of the biologic impact of a candidate therapeutic and/or interpretation of clinical response data.

2. Identify or validate predictors of therapeutic responsiveness by GBM molecular subtype that could potentially lead to patient stratification for therapy selection.

3. Determine preliminary efficacy of novel candidate therapies or validate novel therapeutic targets in GBM models.

This RFP is open to early career investigators working in a non-profit or for-profit organization either in the U.S. or internationally. The maximum amount for a single one-year research project is $150,000. The deadline for applying is 03/22/2010. Application guidelines are available on the foundation website at www.ivyfoundation.org

23-Feb-10 2:30 PM

Neuro-Tumor Club Dinner Meeting, April 19, Washington, DC

Chas Haynes — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:00:00 GMT

16^th Neuro-Tumor Club Dinner Meeting at AACR

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS / SAVE THE DATE

Time: Monday April 19, 2010; 6:30 – 10:00pm

Location: Washington Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20005

Chairs: Russell Lonser, MD and John Park, MD

Download submission/RSVP form here.

The 16th Neuro-Tumor Club Dinner Meeting will again take place during the AACR Annual Meeting, this time in Washington, DC. This meeting, for brain tumor researchers attending the AACR Annual Meeting, is organized by the Society for Neuro-Oncology.

As in past years, this event will be an informal and stimulating exchange of late-breaking findings of specific and focused interest to investigators dedicated to brain tumor research. Sponsors will be supporting the event by covering meeting room fees and the cost of drinks and buffet dinner for those who RSVP their attendance at the dinner.

Format

We would like to capitalize on the success of the meeting in past years. The presentations will again be very short (5 slides; 5 minutes) and will focus on themes of critical importance to Neuro-Oncology. A short introduction of the theme will be given by the moderators before the presentations. With only 5 slides to present, the purpose is that “each presenter will make a seminal observation, rebut dogma, disclose a paradox, or offer to crack open a new paradigm”. At the conclusion of each presentation we will have a short discussion. Think collaboration, new perspective, synergy, or a glimpse into your competitor’s lab. If you’ve written a recent review (or are planning to do so) on any of these themes, please offer to give a 3-minute introduction to the topic. Also, if there is a theme you would like to see developed, please feel free to suggest it.

Targeted Themes

Angiogenesis and the microenvironment in brain tumor biology and therapy
MicroRNAs as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in brain tumors
The brain tumor stem cell as target
New hopes for immunotherapy in brain tumors
From bench to bedside and back to the bench: translational research in brain tumors
SNPs, mutations, and genetics of brain tumors
New tools, methods and mouse models in brain tumor research

Timeline

E-blast of call for abstracts:    Friday, January 8, 2010
Deadline, submission of abstracts:   Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Notification sent to selected abstracts:   Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Deadline, submission of .ppt files by presenters: Monday, April 5, 2010
Final RSVP for the Dinner Meeting:   Monday, April 5, 2010
Slides due to SNO administrative office   Monday, April 9, 2010

Neuro Tumor Club Dinner Meeting: Monday, April 19, 2010, 6:30 - 10:00 PM
PLEASE NOTE: You are welcome to attend the dinner without submitting an abstract. However, please RSVP with us by April 5, so we know how many people to plan for.

Suggested Presentation Format*

Slide 1: Perspective on the issue

Slide 2: Experimental Design
Slide 3: Data/Results I
Slide 4: Data/Results II
Slide 5: Interpretation/Model/Conclusion
*(No animation, and no more than 5 slides please)

To downlod a submission/RSVP form, click here.
Return completed forms by Feburay 24, 2010, to Linda Greer or FAX to: 713-583-1345

8-Jan-10 10:00 AM

SNO Announces First International Outreach Fellowship Recipient

Chas Haynes — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

SNO International Outreach Research Fellowship
Supported by the American Brain Tumor Association and EMD Serono

The leadership of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the SNO International Outreach Committee are pleased to announce that Dr. Yi Lin of China has been selected as the first SNO International Outreach Research Fellow.

This fellowship was made possible through the generous support of the American Brain Tumor Association and EMD Serono.

The purpose of this one-year fellowship is to provide a program for professionals from developing regions to perform clinical, translational or basic research in the area of pediatric or adult neuro-oncology in a clinical and/or laboratory setting in the United States or Canada.

Applications were reviewed based on the novelty and scientific merit of the proposed study and the credentials of the applicant, as well as the potential impact to the advancement of neuro-oncology in the applicant’s home country upon completion of the fellowship. The Tufts Medical Center has agreed to host Dr. Lin for the one-year Fellowship period where she will study under the supervision of Dr. Jay-Jiguang Zhu.

The call for applications for the next fellowship cycle will be announced in May, 2010, and details will be available on this website.

24-Nov-09 1:00 PM

2009 Joint Meeting Recap

Chas Haynes — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:00 GMT

This historic meeting, held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 22–24, 2009, was the first joint meeting between the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors.

The meeting was a huge success, continuing the trend of years past with a record 600 abstracts presented and attendance of over 1,200 people. The meeting was co-chaired by Frederick Lang and Randy Jensen, assisted by a Scientific Committee composed of Abhijit Guha, Michael McDermott, Jeffrey Bruce, Susan Chang, Mark Gilbert, and Michael Vogelbaum, with Terri Armstrong organizing the Quality of Life sessions.The meeting benefitted from the generous sponsorship of many supporters this year. At the Leader level of corporate support were Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, and Schering-Plough; at the Benefactor level were AstraZeneca, the CERN Foundation, and Exelixis; at the Supporter level, EMD Serono; and at the Contributor level, the Tug McGraw Foundation, and Eisai. The SNO Platinum-level supporters were the American Brain Tumor Association, Genentech, EMD Serono, Schering-Plough, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and the Sontag Foundation.

In the traditional format of the yearly Society for Neuro-Oncology Meeting, the joint meeting started with an education half-day, with the theme of “Personalized Medicine: Is it the Future or Now?” The goals of this education half-day meeting were to explore the application of individual data to better target, prevent, and treat a particular disease or condition. During the session, the use of personalized clinical, radiographic, genomic, and protein data, as well as personalized epigenetics, was explored. Two speakers each representing the specialties of pathology, surgery, radiation oncology, and medical oncology discussed the technology in their subspecialty and the application of this technology towards personalized medicine. These talks addressed the current status of these applications and the future of personalized medicine. In the beginning session on neuropathology, Kenneth Aldape described the “Predictive and Prognostic Value of Global Profiling Technologies in Neuropathology.” He was followed by Daniel Brat, who spoke on the “Predictive and Prognostic Value of Specific Molecular Biomarkers in Neuropathology.” The surgical session began with Christopher Nimsky, who spoke on “Technology Supporting Personalized Surgical Care.” He was followed by Cameron Brennan, speaking on the topic of “Clinical Decision-making in Surgery Incorporating Molecular Markers.” This session was followed by a session featuring two radiation oncologists: Kristina Tsien, who spoke on the “Technology Supporting Personalized Radiation Oncology,” followed by Minesh Mehta, who discussed the “Role of Molecular Markers in Clinical Decision-making in Radiation Oncology.” The final speakers of the education half-day were Timothy Cloughesy, who spoke on “Molecular Markers for Guiding Decision-making in Personalized Neuro-oncology,” and Mark Gilbert, who discussed “Molecular Markers for Guiding Development of Clinical Trials and Personalized Neuro-oncology.”

Of note, the morning also included the special concurrent session on “Enhancing Quality of Life Throughout the Illness Trajectory.” This was organized by Terri Armstrong from the MD Andersen Cancer Center, Kimberly M. Wallgren from the CERN Foundation and Jennifer Brusstar from the Tug McGraw Foundation. To begin this session, attendees were treated to a moving video-taped welcome message from musician Tim McGraw, who expressed his appreciation to the organizers and participants for the important work they are doing on behalf of brain tumor patients. Walter Bail then discussed “Good News or Bad: Communicating with Your Patient,” and Jeffrey Wefel spoke on the topic of “Chemobrain? Impact of Tumor and Treatment on Neurocognitive Function: What We Know, Where to Go.” This was followed by talks on “Radiation of Brain Metastasis, Toxicity and Interventional Trials” by Paul Brown, “The Other Health Care Professional: Training the Care-giver” by Harriet Patterson, and “Promoting Comfort and Choice at the End of Life” by Sherry Fox.

The Joint Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and AANS/CNS Section on Tumors began on the afternoon of Thursday, October 22, with a moment of silence and remembrance in honor of Mike Traynor, President and Co-Founder of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, who had recently passed away. During the Introduction, notice was also made of the passing of Samuel Hassenbush, MD, PhD, for whom a talk later in the meeting was named.

The meeting then started with presentations of the top scoring abstracts. This session was composed of the eight top scoring abstracts of all of the abstracts submitted to the meeting. This preliminary session gave the general membership of the two Societies a chance to hear reports on a variety of great research, in both basic science and clinical research. During this session, the award for excellence in adult clinical research was given to Riccardo Soffietti for his paper, “Adjuvant Whole Brain Radiotherapy versus Observation after Radiosurgery or Surgical Resection of 1–3 Cerebral Metastases: Results of the EORTC 22952-26001 Study.” The award for excellence in adult translational research went to Aaron Tannenbaum for his paper, “Sunitinib Inhibits Glioma Growth by Blocking Progenitor Cell Recruitment.” The award for excellence in adult clinical research was presented to Mei-Yin Polley for the paper, “Six-month Progression-free Survival as an Alternative Primary Efficacy End-Point to Overall Survival in Newly-Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients Receiving Temozolomide.”

The plenary sessions began with an open abstract session on Tumor Biology. Nine abstracts were presented in this session, and the award for excellence in adult basic research went to Lynette Moore for her paper “ IGFBP2 Is a Candidate Biomarker for INK4-ARF Status and a Therapeutic Target for High-Grade Gliomas.”

In the evening, a poster session and reception allowed attendees to mingle and review the incredible work being done by the members of the two Societies. The evening also included Satellite Symposia sponsored by companies with emerging technologies.

The following day began with sunrise sessions in which the topics of “Neurosurgical Oncological Endoscopy,” “Meningiomas: Current Basic Science and Clinical Treatments,” “Cancer Stem Cells; State of the Hypothesis” and “Metastatic Spine Tumors: Biology and Therapy” were addressed. In each of these sessions, a leader and three or four experts in the field discussed current issues related to the topic of their session.

The morning plenary session was begun with a presentation by the Farber Award winner, Peter Dirks. Dr. Dirks summarized his work on “Brain Tumor Stem Cells” and was well received. This was followed by an open abstract session on Medical Therapies.

After the open abstract session, the keynote speaker, Dr. Ramond Sawaya, addressed the topic of “Neurosurgical Oncology--an Indispensable Partner: Surgeons Can Be Involved in Neuro-oncological Research and Play an Important Role in the Neuro-Oncology Team.” After this interesting keynote address, the remainder of the afternoon was filled with concurrent open abstract sessions on the topics of Surgical Therapies; Experimental and Clinical Therapies; and Epidemiology and Quality of Life; Radiology; Pediatric Basic Science; Immunobiology and Immunotherapy; and Radiation Oncology. During the Epidemiology and Quality of Life session, the award for excellence in quality of life research went to Andrea Pace for her paper on “Palliative Home Care for Brain Tumor Patients: Results and Cost/Utility Analysis of 6 Years of a Pilot Project.” During the Pediatric Basic Science session, the award for excellence in pediatric basic research went to Robert Johnson for his paper on “Radial Glia Are Susceptible to Transformation into Ependymoma by Candidate Human Ependymoma Tumor Suppressor Genes (TSG) and Oncogenes.” The award for excellence in pediatric translational research went to Dominik Sturm for his paper on “Identification of SGK1 as a Novel Prognostic Marker for Disease Outcome in Medulloblastoma.”

That evening, during the second poster session, two awards were given for the best posters. A clinical poster award given to Gurpreet Kapoor from the University of Pennsylvania for his poster on the topic of “Perfusion-Weighted Imaging Identifies MR Surrogates of Malignant Glioma Molecular Subtypes.” A basic science award was given to Haizhong Feung from the University of Pittsburgh for research on the topic of “PDGFR Stimulates Glioma Cell Invasion Through Tyrosine Phosphorylation of a Bipartate Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Dock180.”

As on Friday, Saturday morning began with early morning sunrise sessions in the format of “Meet the Experts.” In these well-attended sessions, the topics of “Epidemiology and Pharmacogenetics”; “Immunotherapy: Current Status of Clinical Trials”; “Medulloblastoma: Current State of Biology and Therapy”; and “-omics and Brain Tumors: Genomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Ubiquinomics” were addressed. The morning plenary sessions began with an introduction of the Hassenbusch Lecturer by Frederick Lang. This year’s Hassenbusch Lecturer was Katie Orrico, JD, who heads up the Washington Committee of the AANS/CNS. Ms. Orrico gave a wonderful talk that honored the accomplishments of Sam Hassenbush as well as outlined some of the difficulties facing neurosurgery in the upcoming health reform legislation.

The day concluded with plenary sessions on the topics of “Genomics and Proteomics,” “Stem Cells,” and “Pathological and Prognostic Markers.” The meeting adjourned at noon on Saturday, October 24, with a general consensus that combining the Tumor Section of the AANS/CNS Satellite Meeting and the Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting provided a wonderful platform for exchange of ideas between the two Societies. Many attendees expressed hope that this will be an ongoing recurring practice in the future.

17-Nov-09 3:00 PM

SNO Partners with Oxford Journals to Publish Neuro-Oncology

Chas Haynes — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Oxford Journals and the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) are pleased to announce a new publishing partnership.

Starting with the 2010 volume year, Oxford Journals will publish Neuro-Oncology, the highest ranked journal in its field with an Impact Factor of 5.0 in 2008.

As a result of this new partnership, SNO members and journal subscribers can look forward to a number of important improvements to the publication, including:

Doubling frequency from bimonthly to monthly publication,

Increased opportunities for publication of cutting-edge and timely clinical, translational and scientific data, and

Four-week lead time from manuscript acceptance to citable publication on-line.

Neuro-Oncology is the official journal of SNO. It has an international readership, and comprises peer-reviewed articles, reviews in all areas of neuro-oncology, symposia on selected topics, published abstracts of annual meetings, society news and announcements from around the world. The SNO leadership looks forward to working with Oxford Journals to ensure that Neuro-Oncology continues to be the leading journal in its field.

For more information on the journal, click here.

5-Nov-09 2:00 PM

UCSF Brain Tumor Stem Cell Grant

David James — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT

UCSF Brain Tumor Stem Cell Grant to Drive Development of Novel Therapy

A team of scientists representing 5 California-based institutions have received a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to advance stem cell based strategies for treating brain tumors. The objective of the grant is to file a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within four years, driving a stem cell-associated therapy towards clinical trial.

The brain tumor team is led by Mitchel Berger, MD, chair of the UCSF Department of Neurosurgery, and includes collaborators at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UCSD (Webster Cavenee, PhD and Co-PI, and Frank Furnari, PhD), UCLA (Paul Mischel, MD, PhD, Tim Cloughesy, MD, and Linda Liau, MD, PhD), the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Evan Snyder, MD, PhD and Co-PI), and the Salk Institute (Inder Verma, PhD). Other key investigators for the UCSF group include C. David James, PhD, Tomoko Ozawa, MD, PhD, Russell Pieper, PhD, Mei-Yin Polley, PhD, Michael Prados, MD, and Elizabeth Read, MD.

The brain tumor team will receive $19,162,435 to genetically engineer stem cells that home to and deliver products resulting in cell death specific to glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The concept is based on the team's discovery that neural stem cells naturally seek out brain tumor cells. If the product of this research is approved by the FDA, it would be tested first in patients with recurrent GBM.

29-Oct-09 12:00 PM

SNO Mourns the Passing of Mike Traynor

Chas Haynes — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:00:00 GMT

With heavy hearts, we regret to announce that Mike Traynor, President of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and co-founder of the Ride for Kids®, passed away on September 12, 2009, after a brief illness. He was 70. The SNO family and the entire neuro-oncology community mourns the loss of an extraordinary man, who was devoted to improving the lives of children with brain tumors.

When Mike and Dianne Traynor founded the Ride for Kids® over 25 years ago, their mission was to bring the motorcycle community together to fight childhood brain tumors. Mike was gratified that motorcyclists have helped to raise more than $50 million for the cause to date, and that PBTF-funded research is increasing survival rates and improving treatment options for children around the world.

Mike and Dianne had been planning for their eventual retirement for some time, and had taken steps to build a robust staff of capable people to continue their work. Today the Ride for Kids® and PBTF are stronger than ever, thanks to their dedicated volunteers and staff.

“For many years the army of volunteers task force members and the motorcycling public have dedicated themselves to beating this devastating disease,” said Brian Traynor, Executive Director of the PBTF. “The best way we can honor Mike’s accomplishments and memory is by continuing the fight to cure the kids.”

Funeral arrangements are pending. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the PBTF in Mike's memory. Click here to make a secure online donation. Condolences should be sent to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, 302 Ridgefield Ct., Asheville, NC 28806.

13-Sep-09 12:00 PM

2008 SNO Meeting Recap

Chas Haynes — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:00 GMT

The 2008 Society for Neuro-Oncology Scientific Meeting held at the Loews Las Vegas Resort in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 21-23, 2008 was a huge success. The meeting, which drew a record number of abstracts (565, up 15% from 2007) and attendees (over 1200, an increase of over 33% from 2007!) began Thursday with an Education Day organized by Patrick Wen M.D. and Sherry Fox, Ph.D. The scientific program was organized by Michael Vogelbaum, M.D.

Click here to read a recap of the Education Day.

Click here to read the comments of SNO Founder Victor Levin, MD, who presented the 2008 SNO Lifetime Achievement Award to Charles Wilson, MD.

The formal meeting itself began on Friday with three concurrent and very well-attended Sunrise Sessions focusing on the biology of glioma invasion, low grade gliomas, and glioma epidemiology and markers. The Plenary session opened with a session focused on the highest scoring abstracts. Most of the abstracts in this session were also selected for awards, which were presented to the authors at the time of their presentation. The second half of the opening plenary session was focused on advances in imaging of tumors and therapeutic responses. A special luncheon lecture was given by Jiri Bartek on the topic of DNA damage checkpoints. Friday afternoon brought concurrent sessions focusing on the latest results from clinical trials and advances in cell biology. The concurrent sessions were followed by a new presentation format; a poster discussion session. The poster discussion session consisted of a 1-hour period of viewing the highest ranked posters, followed by a 1-hour discussion of the posters by a select panel of senior investigators. The general posters were available for viewing on Friday evening.

Saturday began with three additional concurrent sunrise sessions devoted to ependymomas, epigenetics and a panel discussion of whether more chemotherapy is better. The Saturday morning plenary session focused on stem cell biology and pediatric neuro-oncology basic science. These two topics were featured in separate Keynote lectures given by Richard Gilbertson (stem cells) and David Largaespada (pediatric basic science). Saturday afternoon brought concurrent sessions focused on pathology and prognostic markers, and epidemiology and quality of life. The second poster discussion session followed the concurrent sessions, and this in turn was followed by the second general poster session. Saturday evening brought the SNO banquet which featured the presentation of the SNO Lifetime Achievement Award to Charles Wilson, M.D.

Sunday morning brought three additional sunrise sessions on advanced technology in radiation oncology, neurocognition and quality of life, and immunotherapy. The Sunday morning plenary session started with a focus on immunotherapies and then closed with an excellent series of abstracts focused on experimental therapeutics. The meeting adjourned at noon on Sunday.

The Society for Neuro-Oncology wishes to thank Michael Vogelbaum, M.D, Patrick Wen M.D. and Sherry Fox, Ph.D. for their extraordinary efforts in organizing the most successful meeting in the Society's history.

3-Aug-09 1:00 PM

2008 Education Day Recap

Chas Haynes — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:00 GMT

The 2008 SNO Education Day, chaired by Patrick Wen from Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, included a balance of updates on translational research, basic science and clinical care. It was held in parallel with a Quality of Life program chaired by Sherry Fox from the University of Virginia. The Education Day program attracted a large audience of over 500 registrants.

The morning session, chaired by John DeGroot from MD Anderson Cancer Center, focused on the limitations of current therapies for brain tumors and Strategies To Overcome Resistance. Patrick Wen gave an overview of the current status of targeted molecular therapies, including inhibitors of angiogenesis, and their limitations. Gabrielle Bergers from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) discussed the important issue of mechanisms of resistance to antiangiogenic therapies and potential strategies to overcome these mechanisms. Michael Berens from Translational Research Genomics Institute provided an overview of tumor invasion and the difficult challenges in developing effective therapies for this problem. Ingo Mellinghoff from Memorial Sloan Lettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) discussed resistance to targeted molecular therapies, focusing especially on the epidermal growth factor receptor. Arnab Chakravarti from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) discussed issues related to resistance to cytotoxic therapies including MGMT and PARP inhibitors. Andrew Kung from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute gave an overview of apoptosis and autophagy and the novel strategies being evaluated to improve cytotoxic effects of brain tumor therapies. Eric Holland from MSKCC closed the morning session with a overview of stem cell resistance and the importance of the PI3kinase/Akt pathway.

At lunch time Arie Perry from Washington University gave an update on the changes in the new World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of brain tumors that was introduced in 2007.

In the afternoon two concurrent sessions were held, one devoted to the relatively new and important area of RNA interference (RNAi) which is revolutionizing cancer research, and the other devoted to supportive care issues in brain tumor patients that significantly affect their quality of life.

The RNAi session was chaired by William Hahn from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts institute of Technology. He began the session by providing an overview of the topic. Randy Jensen from the University of Utah discussed RNAi in brain tumors. Benjamin Purow from the University of Virginia (UVA) gave an overview of the therapeutic potential of this class of agents. Khalid Shah from MGH closed the session by discussing the difficult issues surrounding effective delivery of RNAi to brain tumors.

At the same time as the RNAi session, a "Supportive Care" session was held in conjunction with the Quality of Life Program. This session was chaired by Michael Glantz from the University of Utah. He began the session by discussing the management of seizures in brain tumor patients. Camilo Fadul from Dartmouth University reviewed the treatment of the very common problem of venous thromboembolic disease. Myrna Rosenfeld gave an overview of the management of peritumoral edema and steroid side effects. Mary Lovely from the National Brain Tumor Society discussed the under-recognized issue of fatigue. Lisa Rogers from the University of Michigan reviewed the management of cognitive impairment and depression. In the final talk of this session Eileen Bohan from Johns Hopkins discussed symptom management in brain tumor patients.

The final session of the Education Day program involved debates on two common clinical problems facing neuro-oncologists. Andrew Lassman from MSKCC and Martin van den Bent from Erasmus University in Holland discussed the merits of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with anaplastic oligodendrogliomas. David Schiff from UVA and Glenn Bauman from the University of Western Ontario discussed the risks and benefits of radiation therapy versus chemotherapy for low-grade gliomas.

3-Aug-09 1:00 PM

2008 Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles Wilson, MD

Chas Haynes — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:00 GMT

I had the honor of presenting the SNO Lifetime Achievement Award to Charles Byron Wilson, M.D. on November 22, 2008. Unable to attend the presentation were two of our beloved past presidents, Ab Guha and Ed Shaw. Ab was hospitalized in California in preparation for a bone marrow transplant and Ed was home with his ill wife. I decided to put my presentation and some of the pictures I collected on the SNO website so they and others who either missed the presentation or wanted to learn more about Dr. Wilson could have an opportunity to do so. The words that follow as well as the pictures formed the basis for my talk, however, I got carried away by the moment and neglected part of the talk and some of the pictures. I hope you enjoy this step back in history.

- Victor A. Levin, M.D.

To view the slides that accompanied this presentation, click here.

Charles Byron Wilson was born August 31, 1929, in Neosho, Missouri in the heart of the Ozarks. Dr. Wilson's mother was a homemaker and his father a pharmacist and important member of the community. He grew up in Neosho and, in addition to being a good student, also played piano and high school football. Through the help of a family friend, his football prowess led to a football scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans where he planned to enter either medicine or the ministry. His career as a halfback was relatively short-lived and Charlie settled for medicine and graduated first in his Tulane Medical School class in 1954. Following a rotating internship and 1 year in pathology at Charity Hospital, he was encouraged to enter a neurosurgery residency by Dr. Dean Echols, the respected mentor of many Tulane neurosurgeons. In addition to becoming a skilled neurosurgeon, Charlie is a pretty good pianist and, while training in New Orleans, he sometimes played in the French Quarter.

After completing his residency at Tulane, he joined the faculty briefly before becoming assistant professor of neurosurgery at Louisiana State University Medical School from 1961 to 1963. This also marked the beginning of an illustrious teaching career by winning the Best Teacher Award in 1963. That same year he moved to Lexington and established the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Kentucky. While there, he pursued his increasing interest in malignant gliomas and developed laboratory and clinical research programs. In his laboratory studies, he started treating tumor-bearing rats with chemotherapy agents. With CSF physiologist and neurosurgeon, Edgar Bering, organized the Kentucky Conference on Brain Tumor Chemotherapy in 1965. The goal of the meeting was to develop a strategy for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. Also, while at Kentucky he received both the Outstanding Clinical Instructor and Outstanding Clinical Professor. He then was named professor and chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco in 1968. In 1970 he established what would become and internationally respected Department of Neurological Surgery that he chaired skillfully until he retired as chair in 1995. Following his chairmanship, he obtained an MPHA degree to pursue health care issues within UCSF and later with a private consulting firm. He continued to operate until 2004.

I believe that the accomplishments of Charles Wilson at UCSF over a period of more than 20 years are the basis of the SNO Lifetime Achievement Award. It is well known that chemotherapy for malignant gliomas in the United States started at a number of institutions in the late 1960s through the NIH-sponsored Brain Tumor Study Group that was composed primarily of neurosurgeons. While the Clinical Chemotherapy Service at UCSF started as part of the BTSG endeavor, it would grow and transcend most other efforts around the country. At its outset, it was a team effort of neurosurgery, radiation oncology, neuropathology, nuclear medicine, neuroradiology, neurology (EEG), and nursing. For Charlie, the clinical chemotherapy program was not a free-standing program as much as it was an integral part of the large Brain Tumor Research Center (BTRC) at UCSF. The BTRC was initiated in 1968 under the joint direction of Wilson and former Division of Neurosurgery chair Edwin Boldrey, but was guided from its onset by the vision and leadership of Charlie Wilson.

In 1970, 90 patients were registered for treatment on the Clinical Chemotherapy Service; by 1974 250 patients were enrolled on protocols. I joined the BTRC in 1972 and began to see patients about 1973. My efforts allowed Charlie greater time in the operating room, for residency training, and for department administrative activities and enabled the Clinical Service to expand. By 1976, we were seeing more than 200 new patients each year for chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In 1974 I became Assistant Director of the BTRC and in 1977, became Chief of the Chemotherapy Service and Associate Director of the BTRC for Clinical Services. With Charlie's support and encouragement, help of BTRC investigators, and help from Darrel Bigner, Mike Walker, and Jim Swenberg, the Asilomar Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy was born and the first meeting held at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California in fall of 1975. The Conference has continued every two years as the International Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy.

In 1972 the BTRC was funded by an NIH grant that by 1979 would lead to the first brain tumor Program Project Grant that continued as PO1 and SPORE support continuously since under the current Department of Neurological Surgery chair, Mitch Berger. By 1976, the BTRC had a professional working force of 31 full-time staff and 26 actual collaborators. BTRC researchers were able to report limited success with chemotherapy of the most common malignant brain tumors, glioblastoma and medulloblastoma. They had published the initial reports showing the efficacies of BCNU and procarbazine against malignant glioma. The clinical arm of the BTRC had identified the multidrug protocol combining procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine (PCV) as a highly effective treatment - the first drug combination effective against brain tumors.

I remember the 1970s and 1980s as very exciting times. UCSF turned out to be an ideal, if not pivotal location, for Charlie Wilson to develop his dream. UCSF was becoming a major world focus for molecular and genetic research. It was full of entrepreneurial spirit as faculty at UCSF leveraged their science to create new biotech companies in South San Francisco and communities east and south of San Francisco. The School of Pharmacy ascended to become the most granted Pharmacy School in the country. Clinical Pharmacology became a legitimate medical pursuit and UCSF created the first Clinical Fellowship program. Partially as a result of the atomic bomb and nuclear fallout research, the Departments of Radiobiology and Radiation Oncology together with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories were at the forefront of new and exciting radiobiology, bioengineering, and biomedical research. UCSF also had superb neuroradiology with Hans Newton and David Norman. The Department of Neurological Surgery also had Bill Hoyt, a world class neuro-ophthalmologist, as part of faculty.

Everywhere you looked you found first class programs training some of the best young minds of the times. Scientific achievement and entrepreneurism spilled out everywhere. As a result, BTRC investigators had unprecedented opportunities collaborative research and intellectual exchanges that led to a feeling of optimism that we were on the road that would lead to an ultimate triumph over the devastation from brain tumors. This rich environment and the willingness of Charlie Wilson to attract to his Department of Neurological Surgery a wide range of scientists made the development of the most robust brain tumor clinical chemotherapy program, one of the most innovative radiation therapy programs, and a strong collaborative and multidisciplinary laboratory research program. And in that environment Charles Wilson through astute leadership, the example of hard work and dedication to patient care, good faculty hires, and the pursuit of excellence built a program base that would impact the field of brain tumor therapy for decades.

Charles Wilson led by example. He did not miss laboratory research meetings even if he had to break from a surgical case. As you might guess, that meant that he had to have very good neurosurgery residents, which he did. He also never missed the academic afternoon of neuroradiology and brain tumor conference. His example was steadfast. He always encouraged us to move ahead, try the new, create the new, and attempt whatever you thought you could accomplish. While failure could occur, it should not prevent trying again. He also encouraged us to always remember who we were and where you came from and to be modest and support others as we moved forward in academia. And oh yes, you had better learn how to write well.

Dr. Wilson is a charismatic, scholarly, dedicated, and energetic leader and surgeon. He has contributed significantly to medical science and trained a large number of neurosurgeons who continued his tradition of excellence in patient care and investigation of nervous system disorders. He has received numerous awards and honors and has been the Wilder Penfield Lecturer, the Herbert Olivecrona Lecturer, and the R. Eustace Semmes Lecturer among others. He held the first Tong-Po Kan Professor of Neurosurgery. He has published more than 500 articles and chapters. In giving Charles Byron Wilson the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Society for Neuro-Oncology honors him for his foresight and strong support for research into the treatment of primary brain and spine tumors and for enabling and encouraging so many young scientists and clinicians in the United States and abroad to carry this work forward.

3-Aug-09 1:00 PM