PROCEEDINGS BOOK
WELCOME
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
As Presidents of both ASPIC and ASEICA, it is a pleasure to invite you to participate at the «III ASPIC-ASEICA International Meeting – Cancer Immunology, Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis» that will take place on October 26th & 27th 2023 at i3S, Porto, Portugal.
We are both affiliated societies of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and, due to common research interests and geographical proximity, have decided to establish a strong link via the organization of joint international scientific meetings and workshops. This meeting is another consolidate step towards that direction. Our main purpose is to disseminate and promote the work developed in both countries and create communication channels and partnership opportunities. We are determined to make the much-needed connections between basic scientists, clinical researchers and oncologists.
We expect to count with the participation of interested scientists in cancer immunology, tumor microenvironment and metastasis from Spain and Portugal, to help us place this event at a high standard level. The meeting will have invited speakers plus talks by attendees selected from abstracts. Participants with posters will also have the opportunity to discuss their work. The posters will be displayed in a specific section in the congress venue.
There will be prizes for the two best Selected Short Talks, which will be awarded by the scientific journals «Journal of Clinical Medicine», «Cancers» and «Immuno» and also EACR prizes for the two best posters.
You are invited to take an active part in this meeting, which we believe will be an outstanding scientific event. We are sure that you will enjoy it!
Joana Paredes (ASPIC’s President) & Marisol Soengas (ASEICA’s President)
Scientific & Organizing Commitee
Joana Paredes (i3S – Porto)
Carmen Jerónimo (IPO-Porto, ICBAS – Porto)
Jorge Lima (Ipatimup – Porto)
Bruno Costa (ICVS – Universidade do Minho – Braga)
Cláudia Faria (HCLN, IMM – Lisboa)
João Nuno Moreira (CNBC, FFUC – Coimbra)
João Lobo (IPO-Porto)
Sérgio Dias (IMM, FMUL – Lisboa)
Célia Gomes (ICBR/FMUC – Coimbra)
Luísa Melo (ASPIC)
Marisol Soengas (CNIO – Madrid)
Xosé Bustelo (CSIC-University of Salamanca)
Abstracts Evaluation Committee
Chair – Bruno Costa (ICVS – Universidade do Minho – Braga)
Chair – Célia Gomes (ICBR/FMUC – Coimbra)
João Nuno Moreira (CNBC, FFUC – Coimbra)
Jorge Lima (Ipatimup – Porto)
Cláudia Faria (CHULN, iMM, FMUL – Lisboa)
Berta Sánchez-Laorden (CSIC-UMH – Valencia)
Juan Rodríguez Vita (CIPF – Valencia)
Scientific Programme
Europe/Lisbon ( GMT)
26th October
15:00h – 15:15h
Official Opening
Luis Costa, ASPIC’s Past President & Xosé Bustelo, ASEICA’s Past President
15:15h – 16:00h
Opening Lecture – EACR Sponsored Speaker
Chair: Marisol Soengas, President of ASEICA
Understanding site-specific immunity to maintain disseminated tumor cell dormancy
Ana Luísa Correia (Champalimaud Foundation, Lisboa, Portugal)
16:00h – 16:30h
COFFEE BREAK
SESSION 1. Cancer Immunology
Chair: Carmen Jerónimo & José Carlos Machado
16:30h – 17:00h
The influence of hypoxia and ROS in T cell anti-tumor activity
Asís Palazón (CIC bioGUNE, Bizkaia, Spain)
17:00h – 17:15h
Selected Short Talk
Genomic biomarkers for predicting lung cancer immunotherapy response
Ana Oitabén Fernández (CiMUS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
17:15h – 17:45h
Immunotherapy in brain tumors: Challenges and opportunities
Rui M. Reis (ICVS, Minho University, Braga, Portugal)
17:45h – 18.00h
Selected Short Talk
From cold to hot: Nano-immunotherapy driving pancreatic cancer over effective anti-tumor response
Rita C. Acúrcio ((iMed.ULisboa/Faculty of Pharmacy, Lisbon, Portugal)
18:00h – 18:30h
Patients’ Advocacy Lecture
Chair: Joana Paredes
EVITA Platform – A citizen-centered support tool driving cancer research
Tamara Hussong Milagre (EVITA)
20:00h
Meeting Dinner
27th October
SESSION 2. Tumor Microenvironment
Chair: Xosé Bustelo & Fátima Baltazar
9:00h – 09:30h
RAS signalling beyond cancer cells: controlling the physicochemical properties of the extracellular matrix to impact tumour progression
Esther Castellanos (CIC-IBMCC, Salamanca, Spain)
09:30h – 09:45h
Selected Short Talk
Impact of HER2+ brain-tropic breast cancer cells in blood-brain barrier dysfunction during the premetastatic niche formation
Liliana Santos (iCBR/ CIBB/ University of Coimbra, Portugal)
09:45h – 10:15h
The extracellular matrix: a crucial modulator of the tumour immunosuppressive environment
Maria José Oliveira (i3S, Porto, Portugal)
10:15h – 10:30h
Selected Short Talk
CTNNA1 germline variants with a premature termination codon are a risk factor for development of early-onset Diffuse Gastric Cancer in European families
Silvana Lobo (i3S/ICBAS, Porto, Portugal)
10:30h – 11.00h
COFFEE BREAK
SESSION 3. Metastasis
Chair: Célia Gomes & Ana Sofia Ribeiro
11:00h – 11:30h
Novel therapeutic strategies in breast cancer
Eva González Suárez (CNIO, Madrid, Spain)
11:30h – 11:45h
Selected Short Talk
UBE2C drives leptomeningeal dissemination in brain metastatic disease and is a promising therapeutic target
Eunice Paisana (iMM, Lisboa, Portugal)
11:45h – 12:15h
Systemic metabolic cues affect breast cancer progression
Sérgio Dias (iMM, FMUL, Lisboa, Portugal)
12:15h – 12:30h
Selected Short Talk
Nanotechnology-based cancer vaccine to re-educate host immune response against melanoma brain metastases
Bárbara Carreira ((iMed.ULisboa/Faculty of Pharmacy, Lisbon, Portugal)
12:30h – 13:00h
Endothelial Notch1 signaling in white adipose tissue promotes cancer cachexia
Juan Rodríguez Vita (CIPF – Valencia)
13:00h – 14:00h
LUNCH
14:00h – 15.30h
Poster Session
15:30h – 16:15h
Closing Lecture
Chair: Joana Paredes, ASPIC President
Burning metastasis bridges: Targeting metastasis initiating cells in combination with immunotherapy
Hector Peinado (CNIO, Madrid, Spain)
17:00h – 17:30h
Awards & Closing Session
Joana Paredes (ASPIC/i3S) and Marisol Soengas (ASEICA/CNIO)