The Oxford Centre for Cancer Early Detection and Prevention is organising a symposium on the latest research in early cancer detection and prevention.

Hear from the keynote speakers Victor Velculescu (Johns Hopkins University), Sam Janes (University College London), Molly Stevens (University of Oxford) and Georgia Black (Queen Mary University of London).

The event takes place on 10 – 11 December and addresses early cancer biology, cancer detection technologies, cancer vaccines and risk stratification, amongst other topics.

David Church, Simon Leedham and colleagues at the University of Oxford are developing ‘LynchVax’, the UK’s first vaccine to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome, a heritable genetic condition that increases the risk of bowel and other cancers.

The team has been awarded up to £550,000 by CRUK to carry out the initial underpinning work to test the vaccine’s potential. They will define resulting frameshift peptides in Lynch syndrome associated pre-cancers and determine the mechanisms of immune escape. If successful, the vaccine in development will teach the immune system to identify pre-cancer cells and destroy them before they become cancer.

Meanwhile, the team will also consult the wider Lynch syndrome community to gather their views on a vaccine approach to prevent cancer.

LynchVax is one of several projects funded under our prevention research strategy, which aims to find more precise ways to prevent cancer.

After winning the poster prize at our inaugural Cancer Prevention Research Conference in Boston, we caught up with Zhe Huang to talk about his work on investigating the proteomic profiles of prostate cancer, his trip to Boston and the story behind his early career.

Hear more from Zhe about how proteomic research is shaking up the prevention space, as well as advice for those who have newly stepped in the prevention field.