Koch Institute Symposium on Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy

The 12th annual summer symposium of The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 14, 2013. The symposium, entitled "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy," focused on recent advances in preclinical research in basic immunology and biomedical engineering and their clinical application in cancer therapies. The day-long gathering also provided a forum for discussion and potential collaborations between engineers and clinical investigators. The major topics presented included (i) enhancement of adoptive cell therapy by engineering to improve the ability and functionality of T cells against tumor cells; (ii) current therapies using protein and antibody therapeutics to modulate endogenous antitumor immunity; and (iii) new technologies to identify molecular targets and assess therapeutic efficacy, and devices to control and target drug delivery more effectively and efficiently. (C)2013 AACR.