The organising commitee is a continuation of the GRC 'Stem Cells and Cancer' conference series.

Stem cells are the building blocks during development and are essential for tissue maintenance throughout life. However, cells with stem cell properties can also serve as cells of origin for tumor initiation, growth and metastasis. In addition, tumors arising from both stem cell and non-stem cell origins can hijack molecular pathways of stem cell self-renewal, genomic maintenance and metabolic control to enable their deregulated growth. Thus, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate proper stem cell function and tissue homeostasis under normal conditions directly informs understanding of how cancer starts and spreads throughout the body. Conversely, knowledge of the mutations and environmental signals that can trigger and maintain tumor cell renewal can suggest novel avenues to boost stem cell function and facilitate organogenesis and repair through regenerative medicine. This conference will provide a platform for scientists and clinicians working on topics such as organogenesis, tumorigenesis, stem cell function, regenerative medicine, and anti-cancer therapies to catalyze collaboration and cross-fertilize ideas.

Key Sessions

•    Metabolism
•    Developmental signaling pathways in cancer
•    Heterogeneity and tumor evolution
•    Mechanical cues in growth and metastasis
•    Models for development and cancer (organoids, organs on a chip, bio-engineering and emerging technologies)
•    Regulation of self-renewal (intrinsic and extrinsic cues)
•    Plasticity and mutant cell competition
•    Novel therapies in regenerative medicine and cancer therapy
•    Mutant clonal landscape
•    Cell fate reprogramming

Target Audience

This meeting will be useful for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, academic and industry scientists and clinicians who wish to learn about the ways in which features of stem cells, development and tissue homeostasis can be applied to understanding tumour initiation, growth and metastasis. This will serve as a platform to build a network across two complementary disciplines/fields that do not traditionally intersect in other meetings. This emerging community will pave the way to advancing towards a new era of cancer cell biology, aiming at cancer prevention and early detection by focusing on the causes of early tumour formation and transitions between benign and malignant stages.  

Educational Need

Although meetings exist that focus broadly on stem cells or cancer and more specifically on different organ systems, few meetings are held that are geared toward the overlap of areas that are shared between the two. This meeting will serve to bridge that gap. 

Learning Objectives

This meeting will provide opportunities to learn the newest findings related to how stem cell behavior is regulated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, how these factors also influence cancer cell growth and strategies for enhancing stem cell activity or blocking cancer cell growth. 

Although the programme has not yet been released, we are able to confirm that the main conference programme should begin no earlier than 13:00 with opening comments on Sunday 28th September 2025. The conference will conclude no later than 12:30 on Wednesday 01 October 2025.