1. Monday, 23rd October, 2017, 5.00 p.m. c.t. Cluster of Excellence
- “From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy”
Special Lecture :
Noriyuki Kasahara, MD PhD
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology
University of Miami
Rebirth of Immuno/Gene Therapy for Cancer: 
Preclinical Development and Clinical Translation
Monday, 23rd October, 2017, 5.00 p.m. c.t.
TWINCORE, Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung GmbH Raum Nr. 0020, Gebäude M04 Feodor-Lynen-Str Hannover
Host: Prof. Dr. Hildegard Büning, +49 (0)
Prof. Dr. Renata Stripecke, +49 (0)

2. Abstract Cluster of Excellence
- “From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy”
Abstract
After decades of research, immunotherapeutic strategies have been developed which can achieve highly durable remissions in cancer patients, but on-going challenges include the need to improve therapeutic efficacy without incurring intolerable or even life-threatening adverse effects, as well as significant costs and technical difficulties associated with clinical product manufacturing.  Current progress in developing next-generation strategies to overcome these barriers in immuno-oncology will be presented, focusing on preclinical development of genetically-engineered cancer vaccines and the clinical translation of tumor-selective retroviral replicating vectors (RRV) for immuno/gene therapy of cancer.  Clinical updates include recent results from long-term follow-up of 126 recurrent high-grade glioma patients treated with RRV-mediated suicide gene therapy in first-in-human Phase I trials, and the initiation of an international Phase IIB/III registrational trial, currently on-going.