The 109th American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (http://www.aacr.org/MEETINGS/PAGES/MEETINGDETAIL.ASPX?EVENTITEMID=136#.Wt3ax7i0tq) took place in Chicago, on 14-18 April 2018. The meeting was attended by 22,000 researchers and scientists from more than 100 countries and the most recent data on basic and translational research, as well as on clinical trials and epidemiological studies, were presented. The field of Liquid Biopsy has attracted great interest in this AACR meeting, with a plethora of dedicated sessions, oral presentations and six poster sessions on circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating cell-free miRNAs and exosomes. The first lecture at the Opening Plenary Session on "Liquid biopsy: Novel technologies and clinical applications" was given by Prof. Klaus Pantel, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
The “Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells” research group (ACTC Lab, http://en.actc-lab.chem.uoa.gr/ ) led by Prof. E. Lianidou, based in the Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, participated actively at this AACR Meeting. Prof. E. Lianidou gave a keynote speech on "CTC characterization and applications" at the meet-the-expert session which was attended by more than 200 participants, while members of the group presented four posterall on Liquid Biopsy (http://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/4562/sessions/lianidou/1). PhD students Sofia Mastoraki and Lydia Giannopoulou were honoured with the AACR-Takeda Oncology Scholar-in-Training Award for their studies on ESR1 gene methylation in CTCs, plasma ctDNA and corresponding primary tumours in patients with breast and ovarian cancer.
