SUMMARY OF LEUKEMIA MEETINGS
Four State of the Science (SOTS) meetings on the leukemias have been held since SOTS's inception in 1999. To date, meetings have been convened to focus on the myeloproliferative disorders and mastocytosis; myelodysplastic syndromes; acute myeloid leukemia;and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Meetings have covered a range of issues, from characterization of disease etiology at the genetic and transcriptional level, to prioritizing molecular targets for therapeutic agents, to strategies for clinical trial design and monitoring, to addressing the clinical realities of MDR in leukemia patients at various stages of disease to the importance of looking at MRD early in therapy, as well as the different approaches for using MRD to direct therapy in adults and children. The meetings provide a structured forum for interaction among clinical investigators and basic scientists from academia, industry, and the community, as well as representatives of patient advocacy organizations.