Introduction

Despite remarkable advances in cancer treatment, prevention remains one of the greatest unmet needs in oncology. A key and largely underexplored question is why some individuals, even those exposed to well-established risk factors (genetic, environmental), never develop cancer. For example, studying these exceptional individuals – centenarians, cancer-free smokers, and twins discordant for cancer – holds the potential to unlock entirely new frameworks for cancer prevention. Similarly, within individuals at high risk of cancer, several tissues, and indeed most cells within at-risk tissues, do not develop into cancer. Studying how such cells and tissues protect against cancer may also yield important insights into cancer avoidance.

This new EACR virtual conference will bring together leading researchers to explore the emerging field of cancer avoidance: the biological mechanisms by which certain cells, tissues and people develop lifelong resistance to cancer despite high-risk exposures, genetic predispositions, or extreme age. Topics will span immunological surveillance, autoantibody biology, epidemiology of cancer resistance, tumour immunology, and prevention strategies, drawing on cohort science, systems biology and cutting-edge profiling technologies.

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Target audience:

Scientists in academia and industry – both senior and early-career investigators – with an interest in cancer prevention, tumour immunology, cancer epidemiology, ageing and immunology. The conference will be relevant to researchers working on:

•    Mechanisms of cancer resistance in tumoral and normal tissue
•    Immune surveillance
•    Autoantibody biology and immune regulation
•    Epidemiology of high-risk cancer-free populations
•    Ageing and cancer biology
•    Biomarker discovery and cancer prevention strategies

The meeting will provide both a broad overview and in-depth scientific perspectives on cancer avoidance, opening new insights for the development of preventive interventions and novel biomarkers.

Topics to be covered: 

• Cancer resistance mechanisms
• Immune surveillance 
• Autoantibodies as modulators of tumour biology
• Epidemiology of cancer-free high-risk populations (centenarians, smoking non-developers, discordant twins)
• Novel biomarkers for cancer prevention
• Translational and clinical perspectives on cancer prevention
• Patient’s perspective

Scientific Programme Committee:

• Jyoti Nangalia (Co-Chair) - Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK
• Paul Bastard (Co-Chair) - University of Paris INSERM, France
• Chi Van Dang - Ludwig Institute Johns Hopkins, USA
• Kamila Naxerova - Harvard Medical School, USA

Lay summary of the conference topic:

One of the biggest challenges in cancer research is effective prevention. While most studies focus on what causes cancer or how to treat it, we also urgently need to understand why some people never develop the disease — even when all the odds are against them. Some people smoke for decades without ever getting lung cancer. Some centenarians live to 100 without a single malignancy.

These remarkable observations suggest that powerful natural protection mechanisms exist within the human body — mechanisms we are only beginning to understand. This conference will explore what we currently know and what remains to be discovered about how the immune system and other biological processes can act as a shield against cancer. In particular, it will highlight the emerging science of the immune system and its potential role in cancer resistance.

Understanding how cancer avoidance works in these exceptional populations has the potential to transform prevention strategies and identify new targets for the development of protective interventions against cancer.

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