Impulses for the future: Follow-up report on the 1st Lower Austrian Conference on Cancer Research

The conference brought together leading scientists and experts from the fields of experimental oncology, haematology, radiotherapy and artificial intelligence to present and discuss the latest research findings and innovative approaches in cancer research and to focus on the importance of networking between science, healthcare and industry.

Opening and political-scientific accents

The conference began with a ceremonial welcome by Prof. Klaus Podar, the initiator and scientific organiser of the 1st LACCR, Head of the Department of Molecular Oncology and Haematology at KL and Senior Consultant at Krems University Hospital. "The conference offers an excellent platform to bring together current preclinical research in oncology, haematology and artificial intelligence, to promote exchange among researchers and to make the excellent work of young scientists visible, ultimately for the benefit of tumour patients," emphasised Prof. Podar.

Claus Zeppelzauer, Managing Director of ecoplus GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Rudolf Mallinger, Rector of KL, then addressed the participants. The opening highlighted the strong institutional support for the goal of establishing an efficient translational oncology ecosystem in Lower Austria.

Session I: Oncology - focus on precision medicine and innovative therapy concepts

The first scientific session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Franz Trautinger, Head of the Clinical Department of Dermatology and Venereology at St. Pölten University Hospital, was dedicated to current developments in oncology.

The event kicked off with a keynote lecture by Prof. Walter Berger, Head of the Cancer Research Centre at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), on the topic of "Current Hot Topics in Precision Oncology". The lecture provided a compact, practice-orientated overview of current advances in precision medicine and showed how targeted molecular therapies are increasingly expanding the treatment spectrum.

This was followed by three high-calibre short scientific presentations: In his presentation “Biosensors in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Lung Cancer”, Dr. Juan Allegretto (Danube Private University/ dpu) discussed new applications of biosensor-based technologies for the diagnosis and monitoring of lung cancer treatment.

Ass. Prof. Dr. Dea Sade (Max Perutz Labs, Vienna Biocenter Campus; Center for Medical Biochemistry, MUW; MedAustron Ion Therapy Center) presented an innovative combinatorial approach in her lecture “Induction of anti-tumour immune response by combining radiotherapy with PARP7 inhibitors for pancreatic cancer therapy”, which combines radiotherapy and PARP7 inhibition to enhance immune responses in pancreatic cancer.

"Hypoxia, reoxygenation and their relation to patient outcome following radio (chemo) therapy" was the title of the lecture by Prof. Dr. Piero Fossati (KL and MedAustron Ion Therapy Center), in which he examined the influence of oxygen availability and reoxygenation processes on therapy outcomes in radiotherapy and radiochemotherapy.

The Mission Cancer Programme was then presented by Dr. Ines Haberl (Austrian Research Promotion Agency, FFG).

Session II: AI and Machine Learning in Oncology & Hematology

The second session at 13:30, chaired by Prof. Dr Ramona Woitek, PhD (Danube Private University/ dpu), focussed on digital technologies. In her keynote lecture , Prof. Dr. Ramona Woitek, PhD, Head of the MIAAI (Medical Image Analysis & Artificial Intelligence) Research Group at the dpu and FH-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Mag. Marlies Temper, Bakk., Head of the Data Science programme and Deputy Head of Department at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences (USTP), spoke on the highly topical subject of "AI in Oncology / Hematology: Risks and Opportunities", in which they highlighted the opportunities of artificial intelligence for diagnostics, therapy planning and research.

The following specialist presentations offered broad insights into AI applications:

FH-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Martin Pirker, Bakk. (Institute of IT Security Research, Department of Computer Science and Security, USTP) showed in his lecture "Strategies for AI-enhanced Applications of the Oncological Information System" how intelligent algorithms can specifically support the existing Oncological Information System (OIS).

Ass. Prof. Priv. Doz. Amirreza Mahbod, MSc. MSc. PhD (MIAAI, dpu) spoke on the topic of "AI for Digital Pathology in Cancer Research", in which he showed how AI-supported models can increase precision and efficiency in digital pathology.

The presentation "AI for the Reduction of Contrast Medium in Cancer Patients" by Ass. Prof. Dr. Erich Kobler, researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Machine Learning at the Johannes Kepler University (JKU), was dedicated to a particularly practice-relevant and patient-oriented field of application for artificial intelligence.

Session III: Hematology

In the 3rd session, moderated by Prof. Podar (KL), the focus was on haematology. The "Oral sessions" were kicked off by Dr. Agnieszka Witalisz-Siepracka, PhD (Department Pharmacology, KL) with her presentation "NK cells as potential players in mutant- calreticulin MPN", in which she provided insights into the potential role of NK cells in calreticulin-mutated myeloproliferative neoplasia. Dr. Osman Aksoy (Department Molecuar Oncology and Hematology, KL) then presented new findings on the pathophysiological significance of CDK9 in multiple myeloma and their therapeutic consequences under the title "On the pathophysiologic role of CDK9 in multiple myeloma: Therapeutic implications".
FH-Prof. DI Dr. Franz Herzog (IMC - University of Applied Sciences Krems) showed the growing importance of biomedical mass spectrometry for cancer research in his contribution "Biomedical Mass Spectometry in Cancer Research", before Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. univ. Klaus Geissler (Mistelbach Hospital; Sigmund Freud University Vienna, SFU) presented the latest research results on chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) in his paper "Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia: New research results".

Research made visible: The posters of the 1st LACCR

The conference presentations were followed by poster presentations, which gave the scientists the opportunity to present their work to an interested audience of experts, receive valuable feedback and engage in in-depth discussions.

The contributions were categorised into three thematic areas:

• Haematology (led by Clin. Assoc. Prof. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Singer Josef, PhD, MBA, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine 2 at Krems University Hospital and Univ.-Prof. Priv.-Doz. MMag.a Dr Dagmar Stoiber-Sakaguchi, Head of the Department of Pharmacology, KL), where new molecular findings, preclinical models and clinically relevant analyses were discussed,
• Oncology (led by OÄ Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christine Hafner, Clinical Department of Skin and Sexually Transmitted Diseases at St. Pölten University Hospital and OÄ Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dott. Sonia Vallet, Department of Internal Medicine 2 at Krems University Hospital and Department of Molecular Oncology and Haematology, KL), with a broad spectrum of translational and clinical studies,
• Artificial Intelligence/ AI (headed by Ass.-Prof. Priv.-Doz. Amirreza Mahbod, MSc, MSc, PhD (MIAAI, dpu)), focussed on the innovative application of artificial intelligence for diagnostics, image analysis and decision support.

The best contributions from the three categories of oncology, AI and haematology were also honoured at the award ceremony at :

In the oncology category, Theresa Harm was recognised for her clearly structured, scientifically sound work. This prize was donated by the province of Lower Austria.
In the Artificial Intelligence category, Palate Honda was honoured for her contribution to innovative approaches in the field of AI-supported analysis and diagnostic tools - this prize was awarded by ecoplus GmbH.
In the Haematology category, the prize went to Rajeshwari Meli, who contributed to the further development of haematological research with precise methodology and relevant findings. The prize in this category was sponsored by KL.

The awards emphasised the high quality of the contributions and the impressive commitment of young scientists.

Where research shapes the future: Summary of the 1st LACCR

The 1st Lower Austrian Conference on Cancer Research lived up to its claim of creating a new central platform for preclinical oncological research and innovation in Lower Austria. The combination of scientific excellence, interdisciplinary exchange and strategic networking clearly shows that this new format has the potential to establish itself as an annual highlight for researchers from Lower Austria and beyond.

A central concern of the conference was to further advance the development of a strong translational oncology system in Lower Austria. The focus was on the close networking of KL's scientific activities with the expertise of regional partner institutions, including the university hospitals in Krems and St. Pölten, MedAustron, IMC Krems - University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten and Danube Private University, which are affiliated with KL. National and international collaborations will also play an even greater role in the future in order to sustainably strengthen Lower Austria as a centre of innovation in oncology.