AFAR: 2008 Aging and Cancer Conference

An American Federation for Aging Research Conference
In cooperation with the American Association for Cancer Research

October 6 and 7, 2008
Union League Club
38 East 37th Street
New York City

Although cancer strikes both young and old, it is primarily a disease of aging. The links between cancer and aging are complex. They involve both biological and environmental factors, including basic genetic susceptibilities and mutations and mutations resulting from environmental insults.

A potentially powerful approach to understanding the role of aging in the genesis of neoplasia is comparative gerontology. The rates at which cancers occur are tightly coupled to the rates of intrinsic biological aging. New insights concerning one of these processes will therefore inform us about the nature of the other process.

This two-day conference will explore fundamental aspects of aging and cancer processes and their interactions. Speakers will examine: genetic and epigenetic changes, environmental influences, and host factors such as oxidative stress and cell death. The evolutionary, cellular and molecular relationships among aging, tumor suppressor mechanisms and the development of cancer as well as the interactions of normal aging cells, stem cells and differences in the manifestation of cancer in young and old will also be discussed. Speakers will report on topics such as telomere biology; nuclear processes such as DNA damage, repair, replication, recombination and transcription; and relevant aspects of mitochondrial structure and function. The goal will be to elucidate genetic and epigenetic alterations that lead to aging and cancer phenotypes.

Recent applications in translational research will also be emphasized. Scientists from industry will discuss product development advances in diagnostic and therapeutic areas, such as the use of magnetic resonance probes, radiopharmaceuticals, and optical probes, new chemotherapeutic agents, and methods to reduce cancer treatment side effects. Novel approaches to therapy will also be highlighted, particularly how they might apply to interventions in the geriatric population.

12:00 – 12:15 pm
Welcome and Introduction
Terrie Fox Wetle, PhD, Brown University and President, American Federation for Aging Research

12:15 - 3:00 pm
National Cancer Institute-National Institute on Aging: Aging and Cancer Research Program Grants - Five-Year Results Report
Moderated by Richard Hodes, MD, Director, National Institute on Aging

Sanjay Asthana, MD, University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School
Nathan Berger, MD, Case Western Reserve University
George Bosl, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Gurkamal Chatta, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Julie A. Kish, MD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
Robert S. Schwartz, MD, University of Colorado Health Science Center
Robert Wallace, MD, University of Iowa College of Public Health

8:30 - 8:45 am
Welcome and Introduction
George M. Martin, MD, University of Washington School of Medicine, and Scientific Director, American Federation for Aging Research

8:45 - 9:15 am
Opening Keynote: The Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging Society
John W. Rowe, MD, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

9:15 am - 12:30 pm
SESSION I - Aging and Cancer: The View from the Bench
Moderated by Terrie Fox Wetle, PhD, Brown University and President, American Federation for Aging Research

Cancer and Aging/Overview of Current Research
Judith Campisi, PhD, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Evolution of Cancer and Aging
Steven Austad, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center, Barshop Center for Longevity & Aging Studies

Somatic Mutations Accumulate in Cancer and Aging
Lawrence A. Loeb, MD, PhD, University of Washington

Regulation of Stem Cell Functionality in Aging Tissues (Slides are not available.)
Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, Stanford University

Senescence in Cancer and Aging
Norman Sharpless, MD, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Acknowledgment of Winners of AFAR-GE Healthcare Junior Investigator Award for Excellence in Cancer-Aging Research
Presented by George M. Martin, MD, University of Washington School of Medicine/American Federation for Aging Research and Jean-Luc Vanderheyden, PhD, GE Healthcare

Congratulations to:
Hiroaki Iwasa, PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Brian Onken, PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Marcela Raices, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Christina Yau, PhD, Buck Institute for Age Research

1:45 - 2:15 pm
Keynote Presentation
The Relationship Between Telomeres and Aging
Jack Griffith, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Introduction by Richard L. Sprott, PhD, The Ellison Medical Foundation

2:15 - 2:45 pm
The Bridge/Translation Applications
This discussion will explore how learning more about the basic mechanisms that underlie the process of aging might inform our ability to develop approaches to diagnosis and therapy for cancer on one hand, and how learning more about the basic mechanisms of neoplasia might better inform our development of approaches to understanding and ameliorating the functional decline associated with aging, on the other.

Cancer and Aging: What Can We Learn from Flipping the Coin?
Harvey Jay Cohen, MD, Duke University Medical Center

2:45 - 4:15 pm
Session II – A Discussion with Industry - Roundtable
Moderated by Jean-Luc Vanderheyden, PhD, GE Healthcare
Increased communication between investigators actively engaged in research at the aging/cancer interface, with their counterparts in industry, should be helpful to both groups. AFAR hopes that the industry panel will use the morning’s research presentations as a springboard to serious discussion of the contributions industry could make to aging/cancer research and, equally important, the ways in which the research community could interact more productively with industry.

4:15 - 4:30 pm
Summary and Closing Remarks
George M. Martin, MD, University of Washington School of Medicine/American Federation for Aging Research
Stephanie Lederman, EdM, Executive Director, American Federation for Aging Research

Champion
Anonymous
Eli Lilly and Company
The Ellison Medical Foundation
GE Healthcare
Genomic Health
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research
Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Pfizer Inc

AFAR is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support biomedical research on aging. It is devoted to creating the knowledge that all of us need to live healthy, productive, and independent lives. Since 1981, AFAR has awarded more than $113 million to nearly 2,500 talented scientists as part of its broad-based series of grant programs. Its work has led to significant advances in our understanding of aging processes, age-related diseases, and healthy aging practices. AFAR communicates news of these innovations through its organizational web site www.afar.org and educational web sites Infoaging (www.infoaging.org) and Health Compass (www.healthcompass.org).