The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) is the world’s leading member-driven organization specifically dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science and application of cancer immunotherapy. The conference brings together stakeholders across the cancer immunotherapy field to advance the science, discover breakthroughs and educate the world on cancer immunotherapy.

As the largest conference solely focused on cancer immunotherapy, the Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs provides more than 3,500 international leaders from academia, regulatory and government agencies, as well as industry representatives with a multidisciplinary educational and interactive environment focused on improving outcomes for all cancer patients.

Tumor immunotherapy has evolved into a standard therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer and revolutionized cancer care. Yet the underlying biological principles of tumor immunology, immuno-oncology drug resistance and rationale for rapid combination/sequential drug development are lacking. Recently the physical science community has begun to study the immune system as an example of a complex adaptive process; these studies have been enabled by progress in sequencing technology and by progress in the application of non-equilibrium statistical physics to living systems. In this Hot Topic Symposium we will bring together leading authorities in tumor immunology, physics and mathematics to provide an overview of the top priorities in tumor immunotherapy and the latest advances in physical science that might impact further drug development and biologic understanding for the field. The symposium will identify the major areas for convergence between physical sciences, systems biology and tumor immunology. Participants should find the discussion provocative and will have an opportunity to influence further integration among experts in these disciplines to influence more rapid development of tumor immunotherapy for patients with cancer.