SLIDES & TRANSCRIPTS
Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Summary and Wrap-Up

Frank G. Haluska, M.D., Ph.D.
Vernon K. Sondak, M.D.

Slide 1:

DR. HALUSKA: Thanks, Ulrich, and I think we can pretty much draw things to a conclusion. I don't think we need a summary of the summaries.

So, I would just like to close by thanking you all for taking part. It has clearly been a time of real foment. There are a lot of currents swirling around now.

This is an interesting time for melanoma, what with the new genetic discoveries going on, our emerging thoughts about both successes and failures in immunotherapy, how to direct our efforts in the future.

I think this has been an extraordinarily exciting meeting, and it is certainly a tribute to all your hard work that that is true.

I want to thank Scott for taking the lead on this and Vern for partnering this, and I will turn it over to Vern, and then Scott has a few closing remarks he would like to say. Thanks.

DR. SONDAK: I really have nothing to add but my thanks to all of you for taking time out of your busy schedule.

I think Frank is right on. This was an ideal time to engage in this reflection, not because we have all the answers, but because, if we don't ask the questions now, we will kick ourselves a few years from now, for not having asked them.

The only thing I want to quibble with, with what Frank said earlier is, I don't think this is a zero sum game.

I don't think we have to think about melanoma as one entity, and the more we do of one type of study, the less we can do of another study.

There are finite resources that are devoted to melanoma, but also there are also opportunities to increase our resources in a broad variety of areas and, with that, I will turn things over to Scott for the last word.

DR. SAXMAN: I would just like to say, on behalf of CTEP and the NCI, that we are very grateful that you all have come and participated in what I think was a very important and valuable meeting.

I think the timeliness and the importance of this is evidenced by the fact that all of you were willing to take two-and-a-half days out of your busy lives to come and participate in this important conference, from as far away as Europe and Australia.

I would like to thank particularly the breakout session leaders, the people who did the educational sessions on Tuesday morning, all the presenters from Monday.

I won't go through everyone's names, but you know who they are, and they put a lot of time and effort into this, and I think that was apparent, and I would like to thank them.

I would particularly like to thank the leadership team, Alan Halperin, Ulrich Keilholz, Walt Urba and Lynda Chin, who spent a lot of time putting this together.

I hope that it is obvious over the last two-and-a-half days, that a lot of time and work went into this, and without the leadership of Vern and Frank, and their willingness to put in a lot of their own time and a lot of their own efforts and energy to make this happen, it would not have happened, and I am very grateful for that.

One of the things they have had to deal with are the difficulties and the differences in a government-sponsored meeting as opposed to, say, a pharmaceutical sponsored meeting, and those are some major hurdles sometimes that have to be surmounted.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the honorarium, or the lack thereof. However, I do have a small token of my appreciation for Frank and Vern's efforts here, that you can wear proudly. This is in lieu of grant support. So, if you will all join me in thanking them?

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