2010 'Glioma Club' Symposium

Gliomas account for the majority of malignant brain tumours. The high-grade forms of glioma affect patients of any age, and represent one of the leading cancer-related deaths in both the paediatric and adult populations, with median survival being on average little over a year. Such a dismal prognosis is the result of tumour aggressiveness and, importantly, therapeutic resistance.

There have been important discoveries in recent years leading to new combinatorial approaches for therapy, which have moderately improved survival. Despite these developments, there is urgent need to improve our understanding of the biological makeup of glioma tumours in order to achieve more effective treatments. This can happen only through increased interactions between basic scientists and clinical scientists, which is the main remit of this Symposium.

The Symposium, at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, brought together a large community of brain tumour experts from UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences, UCLH, Barts and The London School of Medicine and other institutes in London and the South East. Participants presented their current research and clinical interests, and covered topics such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in glioma surgery, and the genetics of high-grade glioma in children.

Commenting on the event Paolo Solomoni said: "The symposium provided a forum for researchers and clinical scientists to network and initiate collaborations. It was extremely successful and over 60 participants attended; It is our intention to hold this event on an annual basis and to obtain additional funding in order to invite researchers and clinical scientists from across UK rather than limit the invitation to those based in London and South East England."

The event was sponsored by Cancer Research UK and the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust.

Further information about the Samantha Dickson Brain Cancer Unit is available at: www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/research-groups/samantha-dickson-brain-cancer-unit/

Image 1: Professor Paolo Salomoni (Samantha Dickson Brain Cancer Unit at UCL) and Professor Silvia Marino (Barts and The London School of Medicine at Queen Mary University of London) at the 'Glioma Club' Symposium.
Image 2: Dr Paul Mulholland (Queen Square/UCLH) at the 'Glioma Club' Symposium.