Monday, October 13, 2008

9:00 - 19:00
Registration

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 (Preclinical studies)

8:20 - 8:30 Introduction
Guo-Liang Jiang
President of Fudan University Cancer Hospital

Shiuan Chen
Conference Chair

Session 1: Molecular action of aromatase and AIs
Chairs: Ajay S. Bhatnagar and Zhiming Shao

8:30 - 9:00
X-ray structure of human placental aromatase: Molecular basis for androgen specificity and estrogen synthesis
Debashis Ghosh
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
New York, U.S.A.

9:00 - 9:30
Molecular and structural characterization of aromatase
Yanyan Hong
Beckman Research Institute
City of Hope
California, U.S.A.

9:30 - 10:00
Aromatase inhibitor pharmacogenetics: phenotypes and genotypes
Richard Weinshilboum
Mayo Clinic
Minnesota, U.S.A.

10:00 - 10:30
Selective regulation of aromatase expression for drug discovery
Robert Brueggemeier
Ohio State University, Ohio, U.S.A.

10:30 - 10:45 - Coffee break

Session 2: Aromatase gene regulation
Chairs: Evan Simpson and Dujin Zhou

10:45 - 11:15
Aromatase expression regulation by nuclear receptors
Colin Clyne
Prince Henry's Institute, Australia

11:15 - 11:45
Role of ER- coregulator PELP1 in local aromatase induction in breast cancer
Ratna Vadlamudi
UT at San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

11:45 - 12:15
Regulation of aromatase expression by steroids in the brain and fat: old concepts, new mechanisms.
Serdar Bulun
Northwestern University, Illinois, U.S.A.

12:15 - 13:30 Lunch

Session 3: Estrogen Excess and Depletion
Chairs: Jo Kitawaki and Ming-Jer Tsai

13:30 - 14:00
Functional role of aromatase in brain
Charles Roselli
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon, U.S.A.

14:00 – 14:30
Intratumoral production of estrogen in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of human breast with comparison to invasive carcinoma.
Hironobu Sasano
Tohoku University, Japan

14:30 – 15:00
Too much, too little or the right type of prostatic estrogen
Gail Risbridger
Monash Medical Center, Australia

15:00 – 15:30: Aromatase excess: Importance of ER beta in prevention and resistance to hormonal treatment in breast cancer
Raj Tekmal
UT at San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

15:30 – 16:00: Coffee break 

Session 4: Late-Breaking presentations*
Chairs: Benjamin Paz and Serdar Bulun

16:00 – 16:25: Sex, fat and breast cancer
Kristy A. Brown
Prince Henry’s Institute, Australia

16:25 – 16:50: Aromatase expression and breast density
Hironobu Sasano
Tohoku University, Japan

16:50 – 17:15: Cell shape is a key determinant of estrogen biosynthesis in adipose stromal cells
Rong Li
UT at San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

17:15 – 17:40: Generation of a doxycycline-inducible, tissue-specific aromatase transgenic mouse
Jenny Chow
Prince Henry's Institute, Australia

18:00 – 20:00: Reception

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 (Translational studies)

Session 5: AI resistance
Chairs: Raj Tekmal and Giuseppe Carruba

8:30 – 9:00: Clinical, pathological, proliferative and molecular responses associated with neoadujuvant AI treatment
William Miller
Edinburgh, U.K.

9:00 – 9:30: Molecular characterization of aromatase inhibitor-resistant, tamoxifen-resistant and LTEDaro cell lines
Selma Masri
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
California, U.S.A.

9:30 – 10:00: Aromatase inhibitor resistance mechanisms in in vivo model systems
Angela Brodie
University of Maryland, Maryland, U.S.A.

10:00 – 10:30: The IGF-1-R and development of resistance to aromatase inhibitors
Richard Santen
University of Virginia, Virginia, U.S.A.

10:30 – 10:45: Coffee break

 Session 6: Combination treatment
Chairs: Per Lonning and Richard Santen

10:45 – 11:15: New development in endocrine treatment using aromatase inhibitors
Anthony Howell
Christie Hospital, Manchester, U.K.

11:15 – 11:45: Novel treatment strategies using aromatase inhibitors: preclinical studies
Shiuan Chen
Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope
California, U.S.A.

11:45 – 12:15: Molecular determinants of response to aromatase inhibitor treatment
Anita Dunbier
Royal Marsden Hospital, U.K.

12:15 – 13:30: Lunch

Session 7: Breast cancer in Asia
Chairs: Bing-He Xu and Susan Pitman-Lowenthal

13:30 – 14:00
Unique features of breast cancer patients in Asia, a demographic analysis
Chen-Yang Shen
Academic Sinica, Taiwan

14:00 – 14:30
Unique Challenges in Treating Premenopausal Women in Asia: A Regional Perspective
Zhimin Shao
Fudan Tumor Hospital, China

14:30 – 15:00
A new era of hormonal therapy in breast cancer treatment
Louis Chow
Hong Kong Unimed Hospital, Hong Kong

15:00 - 15:30
CYP19 Pharmacogenetics: Gene resequencing, functional genomics and genotype-phenotype correlation analysis
Liewei Wang
Mayo Clinic
Minnesota, U.S.A.

Poster viewing** 15:30 – 17:30

Thursday, October 16, 2008 (Clinical studies)

Session 8:  Update on clinical trials of aromatase inhibitors in treatment and prevention of breast cancer
Chairs: Angela Brodie and Jurgen Geisler

8:30 – 9:00
Evaluation of plasma and tissue estrogen suppression with third-generation aromatase inhibitors; of relevance to clinical understanding?
Per Lonning
Haukeland University Hospital
Bergen, Norway

9:00 – 9:30
On-going trials in pre and postmenopausal women: their goals and progress
John Forbes
University of New Castle
New Castle, Australia

9:30-9:45:  Coffee break

Session 9: The skeleton, aromatase and aromatase inhibitors
Chairs: Dean Evans and Sophia Tsai

9:45 – 10:15: 
Experimental and Clinical Findings in the Skeleton Associated with Loss of Estrogen Hormone or Estrogen Receptor Activity.
Ken Korach, NIEHS, USA

10:15 – 10:45
The impact of arthralgia in breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitors
Leilani Morales
Leuven, Belgium

10:45 – 11:15
Impact of aromatase inhibition on bone health in breast cancer patients
Jurgen Geisler
University of Oslo, Norway

11:15 – 12:30
Meet the expert-Case discussion
Discussion leader: Shou-Ching Tang
University of Colorado

Discussants
John Forbes
Jurgen Geisler
Anthony Howell
Per Lonning
Zhimin Shao
Benjamin Paz
George Somlo 

12:30 – 14:00: Lunch

Session 10: The brain, aromatase and aromatase inhibitors
Chairs: Bingyin Su and John Forbes

14:00 – 14:30
Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy and Cognitive Outcomes: the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS)
Laura Coker
Wake Forest University
North Carolina, U.S.A.

14:30 – 15:00
Overexpression of human aromatase in a transgenic mouse model induces complete bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in a genetic susceptibility manner.
Xiang Dong Li
China Agricultural University, China

 Session 11: Late-Breaking presentations*
Chairs: Robert Brueggemeier and Hironobu Sasano

15:00 – 15:25
Changing breast cancer mortality trends in the Western world compared to the East: lives gained, lives lost
Joseph Ragaz
McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec H3A1A1
Canada

15:25 – 15:50
The estradiol level in human breast cancer tissue is correlated to staining with the novel aromatase antibody Aro677
Jurgen Geisler
University of Oslo, Lorenskog, Norway

15:50 – 16:10:  Coffee break

Session 12: Identification of key areas for future research
 
16:10 – 16:40
Preclinical studies
Shiuan Chen

16:40 – 17:10
Translational Studies
William Miller

17:10 – 17:50
Clinical studies
John Forbes

17:50 – 18:00
Concluding remarks
Shiuan Chen, Zhimin Shao

19:00 – 22:00: Banquet/talk – History of aromatase research
Evan Simpson
Prince Henry’s Institute, Australia

Friday, October 17, 2008

Departure

* Attendees are encouraged to present posters.  Oral presentations will be selected from the abstracts submitted.

** Poster presentations will be displayed throughout the duration of the conference.  There will be time in the afternoon of October 16 for poster viewing and discussion. 

Please submit your abstracts to Dr. Shiuan Chen (schen@coh.org).