After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 5th Annual Cancer Center Amsterdam Symposium took place on July 7 and 8. Over 400 Amsterdam UMC colleagues attended the meeting to hear about the latest developments in oncology research and care at Cancer Center Amsterdam, and to participate in scientific discussions and social activities.

The annual Cancer Center Amsterdam meeting enables participants to hear about the latest scientific developments and initiate or extend collaborations to make scientific progress. It is also a festive event at which annual awards are presented to our researchers for their exceptional contributions to create a better future for patients with cancer.

After a warm welcome from the Cancer Center Amsterdam Executive Board, the audience at the NH Noordwijk Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst was presented a wide-ranging parallel lecture program. Throughout both days, time was reserved to enable attendees to visit the many poster presentations and learn about recent research developments.

Very inspiring and motivating to see so many multidisciplinary advances in oncology research at Amsterdam UMC - Cancer Center Amsterdam.
Kavish Kohabir
PhD candidate at the Department of Human Genetics, section Oncogenetics, Amsterdam UMC

To promote and inspire social interactions and networking, an entertainment program was organized in the evening of July 7th. Scientist and comedian Robert Urgert revealed his view on the ‘secret of creativity and how to obtain a genius idea in 3 steps’ - ideas that could be discussed over the delicious dinner. Dinner was followed by a fantastic party that continued late into the night.

'Promote your lab/department' video contest!

A new addition to this year’s symposium was the selection of the best promotional video of a research group or laboratory. From the four contending videos, the creation submitted by the Van Egmond research group received the most votes. The winning group was awarded a pizza party for their acting abilities and clear visual explanation of their research interests.

.Scientific publication award ceremony

To conclude on a celebratory note, the annual Cancer Center Amsterdam publication awards were presented. This year’s winners are:

Preclinical publication award: Afroditi Katsarou.

Combining a CAR and a chimeric costimulatory receptor enhances T cell sensitivity to low antigen density and promotes persistence. Science Translational Medicine. December 2021. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abh1962

Clinical publication award: Nicolien de Clercq.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation from Overweight or Obese Donors in Cachectic Patients with Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancer: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase II Study. Clinical Cancer Research, July 2021. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-4918

Preclinical thesis award: David Cucchi.

Fine-tuning prediction of response and survival in acute myeloid leukemia.

Clinical thesis award: Eva Versteijne.

Emerging insights on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

A great meeting

In the days following the Cancer Center Amsterdam symposium, several participants expressed their enthusiasm and inspiring experiences on LinkedIn. All this would not have been possible without the symposium organizing committee. Cancer Center Amsterdam offers a big ‘Thank You!’ to the members of the organizing committee and all attendees for making this annual meeting a great success. We are looking forward to welcoming you again next year.

Members of the organizing committee.

For more information contact Cancer Center Amsterdam.

Header photo: the Van Egmond research group. Original photos by Magali Coccimiglio and Gitta Kuipers.

Text by Henri van de Vrugt