One of the aims of the TIGER project is to advance HPV+ and immune oncology Biomarkers. A workshop was held as part of the European Cancer Patients Coalition’s annual congress on 24th June 2023 which included presentations on cancer biomarker state of the art, project biomarker developments and challenges. The workshop expanded the discussions beyond TIGER to explain the range of biomarker uses and the importance of improving patient access to key biomarkers across Europe.
The format included presentations from TIGER partners and leading cancer biomarker researchers followed by a panel discussion to identify the knowledge gaps and opportunities in cancer biomarker research and develop a strategy for addressing the challenges in cancer biomarkers.
The workshop kicked off with a welcome and overview by the moderator Christina Olsen (Ceratium) representing the TIGER project.
This was followed by keynote speaker Dr Nicola Normanno (INT Fondazione G. Pascale) providing a presentation on Cancer biomarkers and their relevance to patients. Dr. Normanno leads a research group involved in both pre-clinical and clinical studies, with particular regard to the identification of biomarkers associated with sensitivity/resistance to target-based agents in clinical development. Dr. Normanno’s group has been one of the first to use next genera/on sequencing (NGS)-based techniques in clinical trials. His group has expertise in liquid biopsy and is also involved in clinical diagnostics and in the organisation of national and international external quality assessment (EQA) schemes in molecular pathology. Dr Normanno is a member of many national and international cancer research associations (AACR, GOIM, AIOT, ESMO, AIOM, SIC, FONICAP) and is President Elect of the Italian Society of Cancerology (SIC).
Dr Ritchie Head (Ceratium) Work Package Leader for communication in the TIGER project, presented an Introduction to the TIGER project explaining the aims, objectives and expected outcomes of the project including the biomarker innovations.
Dr Wim Vos (Radiomics) is a distinguished researcher and visionary leader in medical imaging and its applications in healthcare. His presentation Innovative imaging biomarkers for HPV + cancers, looked at the work by Radiomics in the TIGER project and the advances for imaging and datadriven biomarkers in oncology.
Kathi Apostolidis (ECPC) presented on How Can Cancer Patients advocate for newer biomarker testing? She highlighted how ECPC had identified the need to raise awareness of biomarkers to patients, issues around equal access, and the challenges to biomarker testing in Europe.
The workshop was a great success and will lead to a roadmap/strategy for Europe to identify knowledge gaps and new opportunities for biomarkers.
