*Jacques Monod Conference: **”Ecological and evolutionary perspectives in
cancer” to be held in Roscoff (Brittany), France, November 2-6, 2013*
The conference is organized by Michael Hochberg (Montpellier, France) and
Paul Ewald (Louisville, USA). Jacques Monod Conference website:
http://www.cnrs.fr/insb/cjm/cjmprog_e.html
Cancer is a disease of opportunity, associated with clonal evolution,
expansion and competition within the body. Specifically, somatic cellular
selection and evolution are the fundamental processes leading to
malignancy, metastasis and resistance to therapies. The Jacques Monod
Conference “*Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives in Cancer†*aims to
promote this emerging discipline by addressing some of the most important
questions about cancerogenesis. The conference will cover 3 themes:
– Interspecific patterns and processes
– Progression
– Therapies
The first theme will address the observation that infectious agents can
cause cancers. Persistent infections may promote cancer because long-term
host defensive responses induce inflammation that subsequently increases
mutation rates. Why human defensive mechanisms have not evolved to more
efficiently control or eliminate invasive cell lineages, and why do some
species with more somatic tissue show less than expected incidences of
cancer? The second theme will evaluate the role of the tumor environment
and natural selection in explaining cancer progression. To what extent are
different cancers predictable and what are the key contributing variables?
The third theme will tackle the daunting challenge of employing
evolutionary theories to improve cancer therapies. It will seek how
preventative, curative and management therapies can be improved and even
optimized to slow or stop the emergence of resistance to chemotherapies.
*Invited speakers* and provisional titles
*AKTIPIS Athena *(San Francisco, USA): Challenges and opportunities for
evolutionary and ecological approaches to cancer
*BEERENWINKEL Nico* (Basel, Switzerland): Using next-generation sequencing
to estimate genetic tumor diversity and to inform mathematical models of
tumor evolution
*CICCARELLI Francesca* (Milano, Italy): Genome instability and the
evolution of cancer
*CLAIRAMBAULT Jean* (Paris, France)*: *Mathematical assessment of drug
resistance in cancer cell populations: Genetic or epigenetic phenomenon?
*CRESPI Bernard* (Burnaby, Canada): Genomic imprinting in the evolution and
development of cancer
*DELHOMMEAU François *(Paris, France): Clonal architecture in myeloid
malignancies
*EWALD Paul *(Louisville, USA): Toward a unified theory of cancer
*FRIDMAN Hervé* (Paris, France): Impact of patient’s immunity and
inflammation on progression, metastasis and clinical outcome of cancers
*GATENBY Robert* (Tampa, USA)*: *Evolutionary dynamics in cancer therapy
*HAREL-BELLAN Annick* (Gif-sur-Yvette, France): Non-coding RNAs and cancer
*HENG Henry *(Detroit, USA): Genome chaos and cancer evolution
*HIBNER Urszula *(Montpellier, France): Host-pathogen interactions:
hijacking of cellular functions by the Hepatitis C virus sensitizes the
host cell to oncogenic transformation
*HOCHBERG Michael *(Montpellier, France): Optimizing preventative therapies
*KELLER Laurent (*Lausanne, Switzerland): Darwinian selection in cancer
cells
*MAINI Philip *(Oxford, United Kingdom): Mathematical and computational
modeling of cancer growth and dynamics
*MALEY Carlo *(San Francisco, USA): Why we get cancer and why it has been
so hard to cure?
*OLIVIERI Isabelle *(Montpellier, France): What can we learn from
evolutionary thinking-based pesticide management for optimizing
chemotherapy protocols?
*PACHECO Jorge *(Braga, Portugal): Somatic evolution of cancer in
hematopoiesis
*PEPPER John *(Bethesda, USA): Evolutionary insights into acquired
resistance to cancer therapy, and how to avoid it
*QUINTANA-MURCI Lluis *(Paris, France): From evolutionary and population
genetics to human disease
*RADMAN Miroslav *(Paris, France): Keynote address: Biological clock in
carcinogenesis
*SAVAGE Philip *(London, United Kingdom): Why are only some cancers curable
with chemotherapy?
*SOLÉ Ricard *(Barcelona, Spain): The evolution of unstable cancer cell
populations
*SPROUFFSKE Kathleen *(Zurich, Switzerland): Reconstructing the order of
somatic mutations in cancer progression
*STRATTON Michael *(Cambridge, United Kingdom): Sequencing the cancer
genome
*THOMAS Frédéric *(Montpellier, France): Evolution of cancer vulnerability
among species: Peto’s paradox revisited
*TLSTY Thea *(San Francisco, USA): Identification of factors that control
the rate of malignant evolution
*TOMLINSON Ian *(Oxford, United Kingdom): Signatures and consequences of
selection in colorectal cancer genes
*WEITZMAN Jonathan* (Paris, France): What can intracellular parasites teach
us about tumorigenesis?
*ZUR HAUSEN Harald *(Heidelberg, Germany): Keynote address: Infectious
etiology of human cancers
*Registration fee (including lodging, meals and special conference dinner)*
*400 €* for PhD students
*520 €* for other participants
*Application for registration *
The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are
expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is
made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics
of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting
should send:
– their curriculum vitae
– the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
– the abstract of their presentation
*to the Chairperson of the conference* (mhochber@univ-montp2.fr) before the
deadline. After it, the organizers will select the participants. Except in
some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that
all selected participants present their work during the conference, either
in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the
form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with the
application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time
to those selected.