AACR Annual Meeting 2008: autophagy in the forefront of cancer research

The 2008 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting was held in San Diego, CA, April 12-16, 2008 (http:// www.aacr.org/home/scientists/meetings--workshops/annual-meeting-2008.aspx). More than 17,000 scientists from 60 countries participated in this meeting that was organized by AACR, the oldest and largest organization in the world focused on cancer research. The scientific presentations included more than 6,000 abstracts and 500 invited talks on new and significant discoveries in basic, clinical, and translational cancer research. Autophagy, as pertaining to tumorigenesis and response to anticancer therapies, was undoubtedly a "hot topic" in this meeting. An educational session, a forum, a minisymposium and several other talks dispersed in different sessions had a strong focus on autophagy. All autophagy-related presentations were very well attended and stimulated lively discussions, clearly indicating that the scientific community is greatly interested in this rapidly-progressing area of research.