OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN CANCER R&D HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOCIETY OF MEDICINES RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, HELD JUNE 5, 2015-THE BEATSON INSTITUTE, GLASGOW, UK

Despite major efforts to tackle cancer, it is still a leading cause of death worldwide that places tremendous health and economic burden on societies. Given this, developing new approaches to attack tumors continues to be a key area of research for both academia and industry. This 1-day Society for Medicines Research Symposium hosted by the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, U.K. and sponsored by The Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development was organized by Wendy Alderton, Ruth Lock, James Ritchie and Peter Weber. The meeting discussed key challenges and opportunities from early research through to clinical development in oncology. It focussed on new advances in cancer therapy and brought together a panel of international speakers to spotlight the recent emergence of rationally designed targeted drugs, combination therapies and effective immunotherapies based on a deeper understanding of cancer genomics and host/tumor interactions.