British Pharmacological Society celebrates the start of annual meeting

The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) today celebrated the start of its annual meeting, which will cover the latest research in drug discovery over the next three days, including a special focus on discoveries in cancer treatment.

he BPS Winter Meeting attracts over 800 pharmacologists from across the world and is being held in London on 18-20 December 2012. "BPS members are committed to discovering and developing new medicines. Cancer dominates discussions at this year's BPS annual meeting, reflecting the significant effort and resource being invested to take new cancer treatments from bench to bedside." comments Professor Philip Routledge, BPS President.

Dr Nigel Blackburn, director of drug development at Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office, adds: "This year's meeting will focus on ways that researchers can build on the progress that has seen cancer survival rates double in the last 40 years. Advances in technology are leading to a new generation of cancer treatments, which are designed to target specific gene faults within cancer tumours - with the aim of delivering more effective treatments for patients."

Cancer Research UK's Dr Ashley Hamilton is chairing one of three key sessions featuring the latest global expertise on new approaches to tackling this killer disease. Dr Hamilton, from the London Research Institute, will provide an overview of just of few of the latest approaches in oncology (09.00-12.00, Thursday 20 December).

Professor Lionel Lewis, Dartmouth College, USA, will lead a session featuring insights into the 2012 discovery of a significant new mechanism of action for a class of chemotherapy drugs known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (10.00-13.00, Tuesday 18 December).

In addition, Professor David McEwan, University of East Anglia, will chair discussions on how experts from around the world are targeting cancer treatments to ensure patients experience the most benefit (09.00-12.00, Wednesday 19 December).