The Cholangiocarcinoma Conference: Molecular Drivers, Microenvironment, and Precision Medicine

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a macro-molecularly diverse hepato-biliary tract malignancy that accounts for approximately 3.0% of gastrointestinal malignancies and between 10% to 20% of primary liver cancers. Over the past 10-20 years, CCA has become the focus of heightened interest and concern, due in large part to the now well recognized increasing incidence of intrahepatic CCA in various countries around the world, as well as with CCA’s globally high mortality rates also rising in several areas of the world, including the USA. Most CCA patients are diagnosed with advanced disease, where treatment options are limited and overall, 5-year survival rates are dismal. However recent advances in a growing number of targeted therapies and clinical trials are offering some hope for improving survival outcomes for advanced CCA patients. To our knowledge, this FASEB Scientific Conference represents the first-of-its kind 4day in person comprehensive scientific meeting solely devoted to CCA. It brings together a diverse group of senior and talented early career investigators to critically assess important areas of current and evolving basic, translational, and clinical research focused on addressing the major challenges that continue to limit progress towards achieving significant improvements in CCA prevention, clinical management, and patient survival outcomes. Key topic areas that will be addressed include (1) the challenges of inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, (2) the roles of the microbiome and tumor microenvironment in affecting disease progression, therapeutic resistance, and immunosurveillance, (3) cellular origins, lineage, and genomic relationships between CCA and hepatocellular carcinoma, (4) identification of novel and more effective biomarker signatures for early CCA detection and for monitoring prognosis and treatments; (5) advances in “multi-omics” for personalizing therapies, (6) innovative preclinical modeling for CCA drug discovery, (7) current and emerging trends in CCA personalized medicine, and (8) exploring new technologies and approaches for CCA therapies. Additional important aims of this much needed conference involve providing a collegial and collaborative environment that supports early career investigator development, promotes scientific cross-talk between different scientific and clinical disciplines, mentors underrepresented researchers actively engaged or interested in joining the CCA research community, and encourages networking with international CCA research consortiums and patient advocacy organizations. The ultimate aim is to advance new and effective strategies for greatly reducing the human impact of this highly fatal malignancy.