Antiangiogenic (metronomic) chemotherapy for brain tumors: current and future perspectives.

Significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors have been made through better imaging, surgical techniques and advances in radiation therapy. However, the cure rate for most adult and pediatric brain tumor patients has not mirrored this success. Angiogenesis, the development of neovascularization, provides the required nutrients and oxygen to an expanding tumor and is controlled by a complex balance of proangiogenic cytokines and antiangiogenic factors.

Meeting report: fourth international congress of the Society for Melanoma Research.

The 4th international melanoma congress of the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR), organized by Marianne Berwick (University of New Mexico), Paul Chapman (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), Rene Gonzalez (University of Colorado) and Ze'ev Ronai (Burnham Institute), was held at the Marriott Hotel in downtown New York on November 2007. The congress was attended by a record high number of attendees (over 500 delegates) who joined to discuss recent advances in melanoma biology and therapy. About 40% of the participants arrived from 39 countries, a testament to the high impact of this annual gathering on the international melanoma community.