CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium to honor two leading breast cancer researchers

The CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium will honor two leading breast cancer researchers when it holds its 32nd annual meeting Dec. 9-13, in San Antonio.

The awards will be given by the American Association for Cancer Research, which together with the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center and Baylor College of Medicine, conduct the meeting for nearly 9,000 attendees.

Robert Weinberg, Ph.D., professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present the 2009 AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research. Weinberg is the author of The Biology of Cancer.

His laboratory is currently studying the ability of breast cancer cells to thrive and proliferate at various locations throughout the human body in a devastating process called metastasis. Their previous research has shown that this activity is dependent on stromal cells from bone marrow, and they are working to understand the nature of these cells and what causes their stimulation.

Charles M. Perou, Ph.D., associate professor of genetics and pathology at the Lineberger Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, will receive the 2009 AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, which is funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure-.

Perou's lab focuses on genetic technology and its application to breast cancer. He initially demonstrated that breast cancer can be divided into five distinct molecular subtypes and that those subtypes could be applied to certain demographic populations to predict risk.

Both awardees will deliver a 25-minute lecture at this year's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is a four-day program that presents a balance of clinical, translational and basic research. It provides a forum for interaction, communication and education for a broad spectrum of researchers, health care professionals and those with a special interest in breast cancer.

The majority of participants are scientists and researchers. At least year's meeting, more than 8,900 people attended from 92 countries. The audience was composed of 46 percent medical doctors and 9 percent basic research scientists.