The development of therapeutic resistance remains a core challenge, despite advances in personalized medicine.

It gives us great pleasure to invite you to the 3rd Quebec Conference on Therapeutic Resistance in Cancer, which will take place from March 15 to 17, 2012 in Montreal, Canada. Following the success of previous editions, this international conference will bring together about 250 attendees, including oncologists, basic researchers, surgeons, pathologists, epidemiologists, ethicists, and other healthcare and research related professionals interested in therapeutic resistance in the clinical setting.

We are well aware of the complexity of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in cancer development, and of the manifestation of clinical resistance, either intrinsic or acquired, observed in primary tumors and in metastases. In the setting of metastatic disease, virtually all patients inevitably relapse, often with an aggressive progression of the disease. Although therapeutic resistance is a clinical problem, it is rarely studied in the clinical context and indeed, most models of resistance are studied using cell lines in the laboratory. Examples have shown the limitations of knowledge transfer from these systems to clinical use to improve treatment efficacy. It is thus crucial to increase the interactions between basic scientists and clinicians so that therapeutic resistance can be studied where it matters most, in patients.

This conference is unique in that it is entirely dedicated to understanding and overcoming therapeutic resistance in cancer, an important dilemma encountered by scientists, clinicians and patients. We are pleased to have participated in the elaboration of the program for the 3rd edition of the Quebec Conference on Therapeutic Resistance in Cancer, and are certain that scientists, clinicians and members of the Industry alike will find the conference to be a venue conducive to new collaborations and ideas.

The Co-directors of the Quebec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (www.qcroc.ca) 

Dr. Gerald Batist	Dr. Luc Bélanger