Co-chairs of the conference: Janko Kos, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Gregor Serša, Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana, Slovenia Tamara Lah Turnšek, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia Scientific committee: Janko Kos, Rolf Bjerkvig, Maria Grazia Daidone, Dylan Edwards, Tamara Lah Turnšek, Eberhard Neumann, Christoph Peteres, Gregor Serša, Bonnie Sloan, Gillian M. Toz e r Sponsored by: AstraZeneca UK Limited, Branch Office in Ljubljana Amgen Drugs d.o.o., Ljubljana Carl Zeiss d.o.o., Ljubljana CSC Pharma d.o.o., Ljubljana Educell d.o.o., Ljubljana Elex Unitrade, Ljubljana IGEA S.r.l., Carpi Janssen-Cilag Slovenia, Division of Johnson & Johnson d.o.o., Ljubljana Kemomed, d.o.o., Kranj Krka, d.d., Novo mesto Labormed d.o.o., Ljubljana Lek a Sandoz Company, Ljubljana LKB Vertriebs Ges.m.b. H., Wien Medias International d.o.o., Ljubljana Mediline d.o.o., Kamnik Merck d.o.o., Slovenija Mikro+Polo d.o.o., Maribor Olympus Slovenija d.o.o., Ljubljana Pivovarna Laško d.d., Laško Roche Pharmaceutical Division d.o.o., Ljubljana Sanolabor d.d., Ljubljana Santomas, Šmarje Schering-Plough CE EG, Branch Office in Ljubljana Slovenian Research Agency, Ljubljana BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Editors: Gregor Serša, Janko Kos, Tamara Lah Turnšek, Simona Kranjc, Zala Jevnikar, Nataša Obermajer Issued by: Association of Radiology and Oncology Design: Maja Licul, Simona Kranjc Printed by: Solas d.o.o CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 616-006(063) CONFERENCE on Experimental and Translational Oncology (5; 2008; Kranjska gora) Book of Abstracts - 5th Conference on Experimental and Translational Oncology, Kranjska gora, Slovenia, March 26-30, 2008; [editors: Gregor Serša, Janko Kos, Tamara Lah Turnšek, ISBN 978-961-91302-2-3 Simona Kranjc, Zala Jevnikar, Nataša Obermajer] -Ljubljana: 1. Serša Gregor Association of Radiology and Oncology, 2008 238036736 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 5th Conference on Experimental and Translational Oncology Kranjska gora, Slovenia March, 26-30, 2008 Table of Contents Conference Programme 5 Abstract of Lectures 11 Abstract of Posters 79 List of Participants 132 Author Index 143 Sponsors 148 Conference Programme Wednesday, March 26, 2008 13.00 – 18.30 Conference Registration 17.00 – 17.30 Opening of the Conference 17.30 – 18.30 Opening Lecture Chair: Gregor Serša Malcolm Reed: Genetic predisposition to breast cancer- clinical perspectives 18.30 – 19.30 Reception 20.30 – 21.30 Dinner Thursday, March 27, 2008 8:30 – 10:20 Section 1: Carcinogenesis Chairs: Metka Filipič & R. Schulte Hermann 8:30 – 8:55 Radovan Komel: Protein microarray approach in tumour biology investigation 8:55 – 9:15 Metka Filipič: Cancer preventive potential of xantohumol from hop (Humulus lupulus L.) 9:15 – 9:40 R. Schulte Hermann: Pro-carcinogenic effects of non-genotoxic- chemical carcinogens 9:40 – 10:05 Lisa Wiesmüller: Resveratrol induces fidelity control mechanisms of DNA double-strand break repair via activation of ATM/ATR signalling pathways 10:05 – 10:20 Krešimir Pavelić: The role of integrative genomics/proteomics in the detection and treatment of metastatic breast cancer 10:20 – 10:45 Break 10:45 – 13:10 Section 1: Carcinogenesis (Continued) Chairs: Edward Dylan & Janko Kos 10:45 – 11:10 Edwards Dylan: ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) proteases as potential cancer therapeutic targets 11:10 – 11:35 Jürgen Dittmer: Cox-2 is a target gene of Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor β in breast cancer cells 11:35 – 12:00 Muschel Ruth: Mechanisms in metastasis 12:00 – 12:25 Verena Amberger Murphy: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors increase the anti-tumour effect of chemotherapy drugs in malignant gliomas 12:25 – 12:40 Tomaž Langerholc: Monomerisation of cystatin F: who’s in charge? 5 12:40 – 12:55 Irina Kondakova: Matrix metalloproteinases, their tissue inhibitors and progression of head and neck squamous carcinoma 12:55 – 13:10 Martin Illeman: The expression pattern of the urokinase plasminogen activation system in human colon cancer is recapitulated in liver metastases with desmoplastic encapsulation 13:10 – 15:00 Lunch 15:00 – 16:40 Section 2: Mechanisms of Tumour Progression Chairs: Margareta Muller & Ron van Noorden 15:00 – 15:25 Margareta Müller: Inflammation, angiogenesis and tumor invasion: the role of proteolytic enzymes in the malignant progression of skin SCCs 15:25 – 15:50 Ron van Noorden: A glioblastoma-specific kinase expression profile 15:50 – 16:15 Charlotte Kopitz: Cooperation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in the creation of a pro-metastatic niche via hepatocyte growth factor-signalling in the liver 16:15 – 16:40 Olga Vasiljeva: Reduced tumour cell proliferation and delayed development of high grade mammary carcinomas in cathepsin B deficient mice 16:40 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 19:10 Section 2: Mechanisms of Tumour Progression (Continued) Chairs: Boris Turk & Katarina Wolf 17:00 – 17:25 Katarina Wolf: Mechanisms of proteolytic tumor invasion resulting in multicellular tumor patterning 17:25 – 17:50 Tamara Lah Turnšek: Altered expression of cysteine cathepsins and matrix metallo-proteases (MMP2 and MMP9) in brain tumors differentially affect glioma progression 17.50 – 18.15 Boris Turk: Lysosomal protease-mediated killing of cells: possible use in cancer therapy? 18.15 – 18.40 Irena Mlinarič Raščan: The pharmacogenetic basis for individualized thiopurine therapy 18.40 – 18.55 Zala Jevnikar: Cathepsin X controls migration and invasiveness of T lymphocytes 18:55 – 19:10 Natalia Sharova: The role of the immune proteasomes in the anticancer defence 19:10 – 20:30 Dinner 20:30 – 22:00 Poster Session I 6 22:00 Social Event Friday, March 28, 2008 8.30 – 13.00 Social Events & Personal Communication 13.00 – 15.00 Lunch 15.00 – 16.30 Parallel Sections 3 and 4 Section 3: Tumour Markers Chairs: Janko Kos & Maria Grazia Daidone 15:00-15:25 Maria Grazia Daidone: Markers predicting clinical outcome in breast cancer patients treated with anti-estrogen therapy: towards the identification of biologically and clinically relevant information 15:25 – 15:50 Angelo Paradiso: Reproducibilty of Her-/2neu analysis: analytical and clinical implications 15:50 - 16:15 Paule Opolon: Immunohistochemistry in oncology : a tool for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment 16:15 - 16:30 Julie Decock: Plasma MMP1, MMP8 and MMP13 expression in breast cancer: protective role of MMP8 against lymph node metastasis Section 4: Stem Cells in Cancer Chairs: Tamara Lah Turnšek & Christian Schichor 15:00 - 15:25 Christian Schichor: Interaction of human adult mesenchymal stem cells and malignant gliomas 15:25 - 15:50 Nataša Levičar: Adult stem cells: from bench to bedside 15: 50 - 16:05 Ketai Guo: Aptamer-based capture molecules as a novel method to isolate porcine mesenchymal stem cells 16:05 – 16:20 Laura Gribaldo: Stem cells in toxicology 16:20 – 16:35 Uroš Rajčevič: Addressing the angiogenic switch by studying tumor- host interactions in an animal model of glioblastoma multiforme 16:30 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 19:05 Parallel Sections 3 and 5 Section 3: Tumour Markers (Continued ) Chairs: Manfred Schmitt & Gunilla Høyer Hansen 17:00 – 17:25 Manfred Schmitt: Kallikrein-related peptidases: novel therapeutic target molecules 17:25 – 17:50 Gunilla Høyer Hansen: Clinical use of cleaved forms of the urokinase receptor 17:50 – 18:15 Primož Strojan: Cysteine cathepsins and stefins in head and neck cancer: an update of clinical studies 7 18:15 – 18:40 Ib Jarle Christensen: Plasma TIMP-1 and CEA in detection of primary colorectal cancer: a prospective, population based study of 4990 patients 18:40 – 19:05 Engin Ulukaya: Chemotherapy-induced cell death and its assessment in vivo Section 5: Delivery Systems in Cancer Therapy I Chairs: Gregor Serša & Lluis Mir 17:00 – 17:25 Eberhard Neumann: Kinetics of tumour growth and of vascular perfusion flow in electrochemotherapy 17:25 – 17:50 Lluis Mir: Tumor ablation with irreversible electroporation 17:50 – 18:15 Muriel Golzio: Gene expression regulation by siRNA electrotransfer 18:15 – 18:40 Justin Teissié: Time dependence of electric field effects on cell membranes 18:40 – 19:05 Nataša Pavšelj: Numerical modelling in electroporation-based biomedical applications 19:05 – 20:30 Dinner 20:30 – 21:00 Commercial presentation Gianpaolo Milite: Specific laboratory animal husbandry in oncologic research 21:00 – 22:00 Poster Session II Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:30 – 10:30 Section 5: Delivery Systems in Cancer Therapy Chairs: Maja Čemažar & Eberhard Neumann 8:30 – 8:55 Elena Reddi: Photosensitizer-loaded nanoparticles for improving the efficacy and selectivity of photodynamic therapy of tumours 8:55 – 9:20 Youssef Tamzali: Electrochemotherapy in veterinary oncology 9.20 – 9:45 Maja Čemažar: Cancer gene therapy by electrotransfer of nucleic acids into tissues 9:45 – 10:00 Gregor Tevž: IL-12 gene therapy of murine sarcoma tumors and metastases combined with radiotherapy 10:00 – 10:15 Nataša Obermajer: The use of immuno-nanoparticles for impairment of intracellular proteolytic activity in invasive breast tumor cells 10:15 – 10:45 Break 8 10:45 – 13.00 Section 6: New Drugs and Therapeutic Targets Chairs: Carlos Lopez Otin & Agnes Noel 10:45 – 11.10 Carlos Lopez Otin: Proteases in cancer: progression or protection? 11:25 – 11:50 Agnes Noel: The lymphatic ring assay: a new in vitro model of lymphangiogenesis 11:50 – 12:15 Chryso Kanthou: Tumour vascular disrupting agents: mechanism of action 12:15 – 12:40 Jozef Timar: Melanoma genomics and molecular targeting 12:40 – 12:55 Stanislav Gobec: New inhibitors of steroid metabolizing enzymes as potential anticancer drugs 13.00 – 15. 00 Lunch 15.00 – 16.55 Section 5: Delivery Systems in Cancer Therapy (Continued) Chairs: Gillian M. Tozer & Boris Vojnović 15:00 – 15:25 Boris Vojnović: Towards high throughput, high content, fluorescence lifetime imaging 15:25 – 15:50 Barbara Pedley: Effect of the tumour microenvironment on targeted therapies 15:50 – 16:15 Gregor Serša: Vascular disrupting action of electroporation and electrochemotherapy 16:15 – 16:40 Gillian M.