SPECIAL COURSE

 Tuesday March 20, 2012   —  8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Convention Centre 220-222

ADVANCED MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY



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COURSE DIRECTORS:

Frederic G. Barr, M.D., Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, MD

This special course will provide an in-depth consideration of recent advances in molecular biology and genetics that are enhancing the understanding of the pathogenesis of human cancer and other diseases, and impacting on the practice of diagnostic pathology. Topics will be chosen to highlight specific advances in the molecular and cell biology related to disease pathogenesis, with considerations of molecular mechanisms, genetic and cellular signaling pathways, and various methodologic approaches. The program is designed as an update for both practicing pathologists and primary investigators on these specific topics as well as general trends in the field of molecular pathology. In addition to presenting a basic scientific foundation on each topic, these lectures will provide practical information concerning how this information can be applied in diagnostic and therapeutic settings. Therefore, an important overall emphasis of this course will be translational issues that link basic discoveries with the practice of pathology.

AGENDA

8:00 AM Introduction
Frederic G. Barr, MD, PhD, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
8:10 AM Novel Methods for the Capture and Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells
Richard J. Cote, MD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
  • Review the importance of metastasis in clinical decision-making, and the role of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the metastatic process.

  • Discuss the potential for CTC analysis to improve cancer patient management.

  • Outline the currently available methods for CTC enrichment and analysis.

  • Describe a novel membrane microfilter device for capture of CTC, and some of the techniques available for the molecular characterization of CTC using this device.
8:55 AM Translating Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomic Analysis of Lymphoma for Clinical and Research Applications
Megan S. Lim, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
  • Become familiar with principles and concepts of mass spectrometry-based proteomics for identification of proteins expressed by lymphoma cells.

  • Become familiar with proteomic strategies for characterizing deregulated signaling pathways using phosphoproteomic analysis.

  • Become familiar with experimental strategies for characterizing cell surface proteins using glycoproteomic analysis.
9:40 AM Next Generation Sequencing and Anatomic Pathology: From Today’s Discovery Tool to Tomorrow’s Microscope
David G. Huntsman, MD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • Show how next generation sequencing has accelerated the discovery of new cancer genes and opened up new vistas into cancer biology.

  • Describe how pathologists are uniquely positioned to lead or make valuable contributions to next generation sequencing empowered biomarker and therapeutic target discovery research.

  • Explain how next generation sequencing as a clinical tool will completely change many of the ways we think about and study cancers.
10:25 AM Coffee Break
10:45 AM Routine Sequencing of Microbial Genomes as a Value-Added Enterprise
James M. Musser, MD, PhD, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX
  • Understand the technical status and limitations of full-genome analysis of microbial pathogens.

  • Learn about recent applications of bacterial full-genome analyses in clinical microbiology.

  • Learn about the future of full-genome analyses in clinical microbiology.
11:30 AM Integrins: Sticky Regulators of Normal Biology and Tumor Progression
Mary M. Zutter, MD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
  • Understand the structure and function of the integrin family of cell surface adhesion receptors.

  • Review the role that integrins play in normal development - knowledge gained from human developmental abnormalities and mouse models.

  • Describe changes in the integrin repertoire associated with cancer initiation and progression.

  • Highlight the role of integrins in tumor metastasis.

  • Present novel integrin-targeted strategies for cancer and angiogenesis.
12:15 PM Integrating Large Scale Molecular Data Sets for Genomic-Digital Pathology Studies
Daniel J. Brat, MD, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
  • Understand the scope of the molecular, pathology and imaging data that is being collected by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Project.

  • Understand how digital pathology and radiology images from TCGA can be integrated with molecular data to address fundamental questions in tumor biology.

  • Understand how academic pathologists can lead future efforts in TCGA initiatives by integrating morphology and molecular data.