CRI-ENCI Ninth International Cancer
Immunotherapy Conference

Program

Sept. 10-12, 2025 | Utrecht, The Netherlands

Pre-Conference Program: Sept. 9, 2025

Scientific Program

The Ninth International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference (CICON25) successfully took place in Utrecht from September 9–12, 2025.

With the theme Translating Science into Survival, CICON25 brought together leading experts to spotlight new research and critical discussions that push the frontiers of cancer treatments.

The program featured plenary lectures, proffered talks, roundtable discussions, poster sessions, and industry exhibits. Selected abstracts highlighted the latest advancements in cancer immunotherapy, while poster sessions provided a platform for in-depth scientific exchange and collaboration.

Ahead of the main conference, the pre-conference day on September 9 included a dedicated workshop on tertiary lymphoid structures and a symposium on neuro-immuno-oncology hosted by L’Institut Servier, exploring interactions between the nervous system, the immune system, and cancer.

You can still view the full CICON25 program below.

Preliminary Program

3rd PRE-CICON WORKSHOP

TERTIARY LYMPHOID STRUCTURES IN THE ERA OF CANCER THERAPY

indica + lunaphore
indica + lunaphore

13.00 – 13.30

Welcome and Registration

13.30 – 15.15

SESSION I
TLS – regulation, spatial organization and quantification

Chair: Paola Nisticò, Daniela Thommen

Welcome
Catherine Sautès-Fridman, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, France

50 shades of tumor-associated lymphoid structures 
Karina Silina, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Cellular and molecular regulation of TLS formation in glioblastoma
Anna Dimberg, Uppsala University, Sweden

Location matters: mapping antigen receptors in human tumors
Camilla Engblom, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Human organoids with autologous tissue-resident immune compartments
Nikolche Gjorevski, Roche Institute of Human Biology, Switzerland

From standardized pathology to deep learning screening of TLS
Lucile Vanhersecke, Institut Bergonié , France

MESTAG Company Talk

15.15 – 15.45

Coffee Break

15.45 – 18.10

SESSION II
TLS – induction, anti-tumor activity, immunotherapy response and resistance

Chair: Anna Dimberg, Catherine Sautès-Fridman

Introduction

Site-dependent regulation of TLS activity in ovarian cancer
Tullia Bruno, University of Pittsburgh, USA

Spatial transcriptomics reveals key determinants of response to immunotherapy in patients with NSCLC
Paola Nistico, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Italy

Spatial organization of immunotherapy responses in TLS and tumor parenchyma
Daniela Thommen, Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands

Spatially-determined TLS features associated with resistance to immunotherapy in kidney cancer
Isaias Hernandez, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, France

Spatial biology to reshape precision oncology 
Clément Chevalier, Lunaphore Technologies, Switzerland

Concluding remarks and perspectives
Wolf H Fridman, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, France

18.10

Closing

L’Institut Servier

Neuro-Immuno-Oncology
Symposium

13.30 – 14.00

Registration & Coffee

14.00 – 14.10

Welcome & Introduction
Guido Kroemer, Patrick Therasse 

14.10 – 15.45

SESSION I
Learnings from Neuroscience and Immunology

Chair: Moran Amit, Guido Kroemer

Synaptic connections between cancer cells and neurons
Varun Venkataramani, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Immune effectors in neuronal regeneration
Simone di Giovanni, Imperial College London, UK

Learning from the neuroscience/neuroimmunology of multiple sclerosis
Guido Kroemer, University of Paris Cité, France

Clock hijackers: Glioblastoma and Circadian Medicine
Maria Gonzalez Aponte, Washington University, USA

Q&A and Discussion

15.45 – 16.15

Coffee Break

16.15 – 16.45

Keynote Lecture

Innervation of extracranial cancers
Moran Amit, MD Anderson, Houston, TX, USA

16.45 – 16.55

Q&A and Discussion
Guido Kroemer

16.55 – 18.10

SESSION II
Immunotherapeutic approaches to treat brain tumors 

Chair: Marcela V. Maus, Patrick Therasse

CAR T cells for the treatment of glioblastoma
Marcela V. Maus, Harvard University, USA

“Therapeutic” vaccine and Brain tumors
Michael Platten, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Germany

Oncolytic Viruses to treat pediatric brain tumors
Marta Alonso Roldán, Cima Universidad de Navarra, Spain

Q&A and Discussion

18.10

Closing Remarks

08:30

Registration

09:00

Welcome Address

09:30 - 11:30

Session I
New targets for immune-based therapies

Identification of T cell antigens in melanoma
Yardena Samuels, Weizmann Institute, Israel

Identification of potent antigens in pancreatic cancer
Rienk Offringa, German Cancer Research Center, Germany

Spatial determinants of tumor immunity and immunotherapy resistance in renal cell cancer
Catherine Sautès-Fridman, Cordeliers Research Centre, France

Short talk | Reprogramming the tumor–microbiome axis: Early evidence from a randomized FMT trial in NSCLC (MORELIA study)
Laura Martin-Pedraza, Ramon y Cajal University Hospital, Spain

Short talk | Dual PD-L1 blockade and VEGF-A neutralization with the Fc-silenced bispecific antibody BNT327 shows potent antitumor activity in preclinical models
Maren Köhne, BioNTech SE, Germany

11:30 - 13:30
Lunch Break

Enjoy lunch while listening to industry talks on innovative advances, tools, and technologies.

Industry Talk | 12:15 - 12:45

Bruker

13:30 - 15:30

Session II
Novel molecular designs to drive anti-cancer immunity

Engineering of cytokine-enhanced NK-cell engagers
Eric Vivier, Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, France

Fc-optimized CD40 agnostic antibody for the treatment of cancer 
Juan Osorio, Rockefeller University, USA

Enabling in situ vaccination with TLR7/8/9 RNA/DNA agonists
Arthur Krieg University of Massachusetts, RNA Therapeutics Institute/Zola Therapeutics, USA

Short talk | Discovery of a Linked Constellation of Gene Expression Revealed by Local Editing of Fibroblasts in Tumors
Nicholas Kuhn, University of California, USA

Short talk | Cytotoxic PD-L1/PD-L2 dual-specific antibodies couple tumor stroma remodeling with checkpoint blockade to drive rejection of “cold” cancers
Michael Curran, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

15:30 - 16:00

Coffee Break

16:00 - 18:00

Session III
Tumor microenvironment dynamics and pathways to therapy sensitivity

Spatial tools to profile the tumor microenvironment
William L. Hwang, Harvard Medical School/MGH, USA

Actionable soluble mediators in resistance to checkpoint inhibitors
Ignacio Melero, University of Navarra, Spain

Mechanisms driving immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment
Karin de Visser, Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands

Short talk | Subclonal immune evasion in non-small cell lung cancer
Krijn Dijkstra, Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands

Short talk | Ecosystems and cell states using single-cell spatial transcriptomics are associated with clinical response to therapeutic vaccination in patients with high-grade premalignant lesions.
Marij Welters, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands

18:00 - 18:15

Transitional Break

18:15 - 19:15

William B. Coley Award Lecture
Aviv Regev, Genentech, USA

08:30 - 09:30

Keynote

Principles of CAR design
Michel Sadelain, Columbia University, USA

09:30 - 10:00
Coffee break

Industry Talk | 09:40 - 09:50

MABTECH

10:00 - 12:00

Session IV
Biomarkers of immunotherapeutic success

Circulating tumor DNA to monitor the efficacy of immunotherapy and to predict irToxicity
Valsamo Anagnostou, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA

RNA vaccines for pancreatic cancer
Vinod Balachandran, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA

Spatial and molecular biomarkers in breast cancer
Giampaolo Bianchini, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Italy

Short talk | Subclinical cholestasis is a hallmark of gut dysbiosis causing resistance to cancer immunotherapy
Anne-Laure Mallard de La Varende, Gustave Roussy, France

Short talk | Systematic evaluation of neoepitope presentation challenges clinically observed T cell responses and their impact on immune evasion
Martin Klatt, Berlin Institute of Health, Germany

12:00 - 15:00
Poster Session A, Flash Talks & Lunch Break 

Explore the poster session and listen to flash talks selected from the abstract pool. Lunch will be available throughout the session.

from 12:45

Flash Talk 1 | Multiomics immune profiling of a patient-relevant orthotopic lung cancer model using SEPARATE-Seq
Pauline Bardet, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Flash Talk 2 | Targeting Senescent Cells with Precision: A Nanoparticle Approach to Combat Fibrosis and Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy
Valentin Barthet, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA

Flash Talk 3 | Lymph node-targeted IL-12 increases overall survival by activating dendritic cells and facilitating epitope spreading in models of lung cancer
Vidit Bhandarkar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Flash Talk 4 | Cell-cell clusters isolated from clinical samples are enriched in tumor-reactive T cells and inflammatory macrophages
Sofia Ibáñez Molero, Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands

Flash Talk 5| Neutralization of the IL12/IL23 p40 subunit reduces immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-induced toxicity without compromising antitumor efficacy
Maria Joosse, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands

15:00 - 16:00

Lessons for patient-centric approaches: learning from clinical studies
Panel discussion with
Cassian Yee, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Michael Curran, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Vinod Balachandran, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
Elizabeth Burton, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Liane Preußner, Immatics Biotechnologies, Germany

16:00 - 16:30

Coffee Break

16:30 - 18:30

Session V
Precision targeting with engineered effector cells

PRAME-TCR: From preclinics to clinics
Liane Preußner, Immatics Biotechnologies, Germany

T cell therapy: a gap assessment
Cassian Yee, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Systematic identification of targets improving T cell therapies 
Laurie Menger, Institut Gustave Roussy, France

Short talk | Exploring the phenotype and antigen specificity of engrafting CD8 T cell clones in patients undergoing adoptive cell therapy
Grigorii Nos, Danish Technical University, Denmark

Short talk | A TIGIT-CD28 chimeric switch receptor enhances TCR T cell function and metabolic fitness
Alexandra Reinbrecht, HI-TRON Mainz, Germany

08:30 - 10:30

Session VI
Leveraging digital tools to unravel cancer-immune interactions

Challenges and advances in neoantigen discovery
Michal Bassani-Sternberg, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Switzerland

Leveraging machine learning to analyze ex vivo modeled tumor microenvironments
Denis Wirtz, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA

Dissecting T cell recognition of human cancer 
Ton Schumacher, Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands

Short talk | Integrative Immune Subtyping of HNSCC Reveals Clinically Relevant Phenotypes and Therapy Response Patterns
Indu Khatri, Genmab, the Netherlands

Short talk | Dissecting the spatial immune structures underlying response to anti-CD40 agonist antibody 2141-V11 for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer
Ning Yao, Rockefeller University, USA

10:30 - 11:00

Coffee Break

Industry Talk | 10:40 - 10:50

MCE MedChemExpress

11:00 - 12:00

Big data overload: insights and solutions
Panel discussion with
Wolf Fridman, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, France
Denis Wirtz, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA
William Hwang, Harvard Medical School/MGH, USA
Isaias Hernandez-Verdin, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, France

12:00 - 15:00
Poster Session B, Flash Talks & Lunch Break

Explore the poster session and listen to flash talks selected from the abstract pool. Lunch will be available throughout the session.

from 12:45

Flash Talk 7 | Parallel interrogation of T cell receptor-antigen interactions by enzymatic DNA barcoding
Tania Baccega, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, Italy

Flash Talk 8 | Inhibition of the nuclear orphan receptor NR2F6 promotes CAR T cell efficacy against solid tumors by reducing exhaustion and reviving cytotoxicity
Dominik Humer, Medical University Innsbruck, Austria

Flash Talk 9 | Optimizing retroviral overexpression in TIL therapy to generate transcriptionally reprogrammed CAR-TILs
Shamini Srinivasan, The University of Western Australia, Australia

Flash Talk 10 | The neoantigen candidate repertoire in human tumor cell lines with confirmation by mass spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics and proteomics
Franziska Lang, TRON, Germany

Flash Talk 11 | B cell TuLibs: Immortalized Tumor-derived B cell libraries for the interrogation and unbiased discovery of novel therapeutic targets and antibodies from patients
Casper Marsman, Kling Biotherapeutics, the Netherlands

Flash Talk 12 | ENO3PEP Vaccination Potentiates Chemotherapy by Amplifying Anti-Tumor Immunity in Pancreatic Cancer
Francesco Novelli, Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", Italy

15:00 - 16:00

Session VII
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy  in lung cancer: preclinical models, clinical trials and reverse translation
Tina Cascone, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy of gastrointestinal cancer
Myriam Chalabi, Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Netherlands

16:00 - 16:30

Coffee Break

16:30 - 18:30

Session VIII
Depletion and avoidance of immunosuppressive cells

Therapeutic targeting of myeloid cells
Dmitry Gabrilovich, AstraZeneca, USA

Convert or die: going medieval on TAMs 
Tanja de Gruijl, Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands

Leverage different myeloid cell capacities to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy
Sjoerd van der Burg, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands

Short talk | IL-1β⁺ macrophages orchestrate inflammatory niches that drive pancreatic cancer progression
Nicoletta Caronni, Ospedale San Raffaele S. R. L., Italy

Short talk | A tumor-associated macrophage-targeted immunocytokine leveraging T and NK cell synergy for potent cancer immunotherapy
Pascale Zwicky, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS

Özlem Türeci, Mainz, Germany
Cornelis M. Melief, Leiden, The Netherlands
Nina Bhardwaj, New York, USA
Cassian Yee, Houston, USA

CICON25 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Sergio Abrignani, National Institute of Molecular Genetics (INGM), Italy
Valsamo Anagnostou, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA
Ana Arance, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain
Marcel van den Brink, City of Hope, USA
Vincenzo Bronte, Istituto Oncologico Veneto IRCCS, Italy
Lorenzo Galluzzi, Fox Chase Cancer Center, USA
Manel Juan, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain
Christina Leslie, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
Yifat Merbl, Weizmann Insitute of Science, Israel
Catherine Sautes-Fridman, Cordeliers Research Center, France
Matthew Spitzer, UC San Francisco, USA