Grant: Meetings, Planning & Dissemination Grant: Cancer Research

This will be the second Canadian workshop recognizing the value of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) as a readily accessible "tumor sampling" that could significantly improve Canada's ability to implement hypothesis-driven biomarker directed clinical trials. Some of the programmatic "action items" following the first workshop held in 2009 must be addressed from the outset of this meeting. The first Circulating Tumour Cell Workshop was held in Toronto on March 28 2009, and recognized the value of CTCs as a readily accessible, non-invasive "tumour sampling" method that could significantly improve Canada's ability to implement hypothesis-driven biomarker directed clinical trials, and thus allowing progress toward personalized cancer therapy. However, there were also significant technical, logistical and operational issues identified at this meeting. In response to these issues, the speakers have agreed to present Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and various CTC platform updates at this year's meeting. The proposed meeting would also include two international speakers who will provide an overview of recent advances using their respective CTC platforms. The meeting organizers will arrange the schedule so that the experts are available throughout the workshop to critique Canadian CTC initiatives and to share their opinion on proposed directions for incorporating CTCs into current and upcoming clinical trials.