Meeting Profile

For thirty-three years, our mission has been to provide state-of-the-art information on breast cancer research.  From a one-day regional conference the symposium has grown to a four-day program attended by a broad international audience of academic and private researchers and physicians from over 90 countries.

The symposium aims to achieve a balance of clinical, translational, and basic research, providing a forum for interaction, communication, and education for a broad spectrum of researchers, health professionals, and those with a special interest in breast cancer.

In 2007, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at UT Health Science Center San Antonio and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced a collaboration for the future of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  The symposium has been renamed the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  Complementing the clinical strengths of the highly regarded annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the AACR's scientific prestige in basic, translational and clinical cancer research will create a unique and comprehensive scientific meeting that will advance breast cancer research for the benefit of patients.

In 2005, Baylor College of Medicine became a joint sponsor of the symposium and will remain in the CTRC-AACR collaboration.

Peter M. Ravdin, MD, PhD, Director, Breast Cancer Program, Cancer Therapy & Research Center, UT Health Science Center and C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine remain Co-Directors of the symposium.

Symposium Objective

The objective of the SABCS is to provide state-of-the-art information on the experimental biology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of breast cancer and premalignant disease, to an international audience of academic and private physicians and researchers.

Target Audience

This international symposium is directed primarily towards academic and private physicians and researchers involved in breast cancer in medical, surgical, gynecologic, and radiation oncology, as well as other appropriate health care professionals.

Individuals searching for breast cancer treatment information, help line, support groups, etc., please visit the website of Susan G. Komen for the Cure at www.komen.org.

Symposium Administration

All administrative functions of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium occur in the symposium operations office, which is located at Cancer Therapy & Research Center, 7979 Wurzbach, San Antonio, Texas 78229.

 Executive Committee

Co-Directors

C. Kent Osborne, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Peter M. Ravdin, MD, PhD, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX

Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Ex-Officio, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX

Executive Committee

Carlos L. Arteaga, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN
Gary C. Chamness, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Ex-Officio, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
Margaret Foti, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, PA

Ismail Jatoi, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX

Adrian V. Lee, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
C. Kent Osborne, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Peter M. Ravdin, MD, PhD, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
Saraswati Sukumar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Ian Thompson, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX

Program Coordinator

Gary C. Chamness, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Director of Symposia

Rich Markow, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX

Audience Composition

The majority of participants are physicians and researchers, with smaller representation by affiliated health care professionals. The 2009 audience was composed of 49% medical doctors and 9% basic research scientists. Registrations totaled 8,493 and 93 countries (including US and Canada) were represented.

Location

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 200 E. Market Street, San Antonio, Texas 78205, is the meeting site.

Accreditation

This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.

Future Meeting Dates

• December 6-10, 2011
• December 4-8, 2012
• December 10-14, 2013

Symposium Contact

Mr. Rich Markow, Director of Symposia
Cancer Therapy & Research Center at UT Health Science Center San Antonio

7979 Wurzbach Road, MC 8224

San Antonio, TX 78229
210-450-1550
210-450-1560 FAX
Email: sabcs@uthscsa.edu
Website Address: www.sabcs.org

The First Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was held November 11, 1978 during Breast Cancer Awareness Week, and was part of an intensive 3-year outreach program of public and professional education designed to significantly reduce the death rate caused by breast cancer in San Antonio and surrounding counties. It was sponsored by CTRC and the American Cancer Society, Texas Division, in conjunction with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and the Bexar County Medical Society.

That all-day course for physicians and surgeons was organized and co-directed by Charles A. Coltman, Jr., MD and William L. McGuire, MD, both Professors of Medicine at UTHSCSA. It featured invited presentations by a panel of internationally known specialists and was attended by 141 physicians and surgeons from a 5-state area.

Three years later, in 1981, the meeting was expanded to two days, a call for abstracts was distributed worldwide, and proffered papers for slide and poster presentations were incorporated into the program, thereby broadening its scope to both attract and draw from a larger, international base. Renowned experts gave formal plenary lectures, and accepted abstracts were published for the first time in the peer-reviewed journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Case discussion lunches offered opportunity for discussion of complex clinical problems in the management of primary and metastatic disease, by a panel of physicians from different disciplines.

Although some modifications have been made in the format, such as incorporating mini-symposia and, in 1997, the prestigious Brinker International Awards for Cancer Research program of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the overall format remains very much the same. This reflects the objective of the Symposium, which is to provide state-of-the-art information on the experimental biology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of breast cancer and premalignant breast disease, to an international audience of academic and private physicians and researchers.

In 1990, CTRC and UTHSCSA formally entered into a collaboration known as the San Antonio Cancer Institute (an NCI-designated Clinical Cancer Center), which in 1995 assumed direct sponsorship of the Symposium. In 1999, C. Kent Osborne, MD, Co-Director of the symposium left UTHSCSA and opened the Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine.  In 2005, Baylor College of Medicine became a joint sponsor of the symposium. 

In 2007, the CTRC merged with UTHSCSA becoming Cancer Therapy & Research Center at UT Health Science Center.   Also in 2007, the CTRC at UTHSCSA and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced a collaboration for the future of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  The symposium has been renamed the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

UT Health Science Center San Antonio Medical School, through the Office of Continuing Medical Education, continues to be the provider of CME sponsorship for this premier breast cancer symposium.

All administrative functions are the responsibility of the Symposia Director and occur in the Symposium operations office, which is located at Cancer Therapy & Research Center, 7979 Wurzbach, San Antonio, Texas 78229. All proceeds from registration and abstract fees, industry educational grants, and exhibit fees, are used for Symposium development and operations, and for support of its staff which consists of the Symposia Director, the Senior Meeting Planner, the Meeting Planner and the Administrative Assistant.

William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award

Dr. William L. McGuire, along with Dr. Charles A. Coltman, founded the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 1977.  The William L. McGuire Memorial Lectureship was established in 1992 to commemorate the significant contributions of Dr. McGuire to oncology medicine. His research played a major role in introducing estrogen receptor assays on breast tumor tissue as a guide to treatment decisions for women with breast cancer. Breast cancer patients everywhere now receive these tests.

The award recipients since 1992 are:

Year	William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture
1992	Marc Lippman, MD
1993	Bernard Fisher, MD
1994	Craig Jordan, PhD, DSc
1995	Bert O’Malley, MD
1996	Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, PhD
1997	Kathryn Bloch Horwitz, PhD
1998	C. Kent Osborne, MD
1999	Charles A. Coltman, Jr., MD
2000	Trevor J. Powles, MD PhD
2001	Nancy E. Davidson, MD
2002	Michael Baum, MD
2003	Umberto Veronesi, MD
2004	Amy S. Langer, MBA
2005	Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD
2006	Richard J. Santen, MD
2007	Mitchell Dowsett, PhD
2008	Larry Norton, MD
2009	Martine Piccart, MD, PhD

 

American Association for Cancer Research Awards

AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is presented to an investigator no more than 50 years of age whose novel and significant work that has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of breast cancer.

AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research

The AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research has been established to recognize outstanding science that has inspired or has the potential to inspire new perspectives on the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of breast cancer.

The award recipients since 2008 are:

In 2009, registrants from the following countries participated.