2023 International Chordoma Research Workshop

ICRW 2023 topics

Wednesday - July 12

5:00 - 7:00 PM Welcome reception and registration

Thursday - July 13

7:00 AM Registration and breakfast

8:00 AM Welcome

Session I: State of the art clinical management

Setting the stage for the workshop, presentations in this opening session will define the current state of chordoma clinical management, highlighting key knowledge gaps, clinical needs and opportunities to improve care.

• Silvia Stacchiotti, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, IT
• Shannon MacDonald, Massachusetts General Hospital, US
• Ziya Gokaslan, Brown University, US
• Paul Gardner, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, US

Session II: Molecular classification and target discovery

Presentations in this session will share unpublished research towards defining novel molecular subtypes and potential therapeutic targets in chordoma. Discussion will focus on ideas and possibilities for further target discovery and validation.

• Stefan Frohling, National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg, DE
• Matija Snuderl, New York University Langone Health, US
• Shahbaz Khan, University of Toronto, CA
• Katrina O'Halloran, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, US

Lunch break

Session III A (concurrent): Novel approaches to targeting transcription factors and brachyury

Presentations in this session will cover the latest advances in brachyury drug discovery, as well as emerging therapeutic modalities that could be applied to brachyury. Discussion will aim to identify opportunities to apply new approaches to advance brachyury drug discovery and the additional resources, tools, or knowledge that will be required.

• Caslin Gilroy, University of California, Berkeley, US
• Adam Zong, Inova BioTherapeutics, Inc., US
• Davis Chase, Yale University, US
• Alex Federation, Talus Bioscience, Inc., US
• Samuel Umbaugh, German Cancer Research Center, DE

Session III B (concurrent): Discovery and application of novel clinical biomarkers

Presentations in this session will share recently identified biomarkers and ongoing biomarker discovery efforts. Discussion will aim to identify further research and next steps needed to integrate the most promising biomarkers into clinical practice as well as emerging approaches for biomarker discovery (e.g. liquid biopsy) that could be worth pursuing.

• Georgios Zenonos, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, US
• Gelareh Zadeh, University of Toronto, CA
• Zachary C Gersey, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, US
• Siddh van Oost, Leiden University Medical Center, NL
• Matija Snuderl, New York University Langone Health, US
• Chetan Bettegowda, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US

5:00 - 7:00 PM Poster session and reception

Friday - July 14

7:00 AM Breakfast

8:00 AM Start of the program

Session IV: Clinical trials

This session will provide updates on ongoing and planned clinical trials, highlighting lessons learned in the process of designing, initiating, and running chordoma trials.

• Santosh Kesari, Saint John’s Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, US
• Stefan Frohling, National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg, DE
• Michael Lim, Stanford University, US

Research spotlight: Natural History Study of Rare Solid Tumors

• Mary Frances Wedekind, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, US

Session V: Emerging therapeutic opportunities

This session will highlight new validated targets and rationale for repurposing or repositioning existing drugs for chordoma.

• David Zagzag, New York University Langone Health, US
• Kwang Seok Lee, National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg, DE
• Matt Pun, University of Michigan, US
• Slim Sassi, Massachusetts General Hospital, US
• Dan Freed, Chordoma Foundation, US

Lunch break

Session VI A (concurrent): Advances in surgery and radiotherapy

Presentations will describe recent advances in surgical approaches or radiotherapy paradigms that are improving long-term survival. Discussion will aim to identify new opportunities to improve long-term disease control and patient quality of life.

• Shannon MacDonald, Massachusetts General Hospital, US
• Stefano Radaelli, Fondazione IRCCS, Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, IT
• Morena Sallabanda, Protontherapy Center Quironsalud Madrid, ES
• Zach Gersey, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, US
• Shaan Raza, MD Anderson Cancer Center, US

Session VI B (concurrent): Immunobiology and immunotherapy

Presentations will describe newly-identified features of the chordoma immune microenvironment that shape antitumor immunity, and suggest opportunities for immunotherapeutic intervention. Discussion will focus on identifying the most important questions about chordoma immunobiology and new approaches that could answer them.

• Catalina Lee-Chang, Northwestern University, US
• Jiwei Bai, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, CN
• Cassian Yee, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, US
• Rami Vanguri, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, US
• Aurelie Dutour, Centre Leon BERARD/Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie de Lyon, FR
• David Osei-Hwedieh, Massachusetts General Hospital, US

5:30 PM Closing

6:00 - 9:00 PM Reception and dinner with the chordoma patient community

Timing and content are subject to change. Detailed agenda to be announced in early June.

Submit an abstract

In the spirit of facilitating rapid data sharing within the chordoma research community, all participants are encouraged to submit one or more abstracts describing the results of their work. Click the link below to submit your abstract(s). Abstracts will continue to be accepted until June 5, 2023 for inclusion in the workshop materials.