The translational science sub group of QATS (Quality Assurance and Translational Science Group) held its first one-day meeting on 20 March

The ECMC Translational Science subgroup of QATS (Quality Assurance & Translational Science group) organised its very first conference titled ‘Opportunities and challenges with emerging biomarker technologies and their application in early phase trials’ on 20 March. The one-day event was held at the ICR in Sutton and organised by Karen Swales, Senior Scientific Officer, ICR CRUK Therapeutics Unit and chair of the Translational Science subgroup.

Delegates learned about numerous topics, including mass cytometry, metabolomics, digital pathology and multicolour immunofluorescence, through seminars presented by guest speakers from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, King’s College London, University of Birmingham and Imperial College London.

Highlights included:

· Dr Joseph Beechum presented Nanostring’s advanced technology for quantifying RNA and protein in clinical samples.

· Dr Sidath Katugampola, from CRUK’s Centre for Drug Development, spoke from a sponsor’s point of view about the successes and challenges in biomarker monitoring in Phase I trials.

Lunchtime offered the chance to view the projects currently being undertaken throughout the network via a poster session, three of which were selected to present at an ‘ECMC Breaking News’ session. These short presentations covered the development of a basophil activation test to test for hypersensitivity (Dr Heather Bax); the molecular profiling of circulating tumour DNA for patient stratification (TARGET trial, Dr Mahmood Ayub), and the use of rare haemopoietic cell phenotypes for PD biomarker assays (Dr David Jamieson).

The afternoon kicked-off with two parallel workshops; ‘How will the ECMC network continue to deliver high quality biomarker research?’ and ‘The challenges for translational research analytical validation in early phase oncology trials’. These were followed by a panel discussion offering insight into how the different centres within the network tackle the same challenges.

All outcomes of these sessions will considered and implemented into future activities of the QATS group.

Karen Swales noted that: “Bringing together ECMC members who regularly perform translational science and other interested parties resulted in some brilliant networking and knowledge-sharing of best practice within the network group.”