April 3, 2007

Webster K. Cavenee First Recipient of
AACR's Princess Takamatsu Lectureship

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will honor Webster K. Cavenee, Ph.D, as the first recipient of the Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship at the 2007 Annual Meeting, to be held April 14-18 in Los Angeles, Calif.

The Lectureship was established in honor of the late Princess Takamatsu of Japan and is supported by the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund. Cavenee is being recognized for his groundbreaking discoveries regarding the genetic mechanisms of predisposition to human cancer and his commitment to the international cancer community.

Cavenee's original research seeking to define the genetic lesions in retinoblastoma provided the first genetic evidence for the existence of tumor suppressor genes, one of the most influential breakthroughs in cancer research. This breakthrough confirmed the "two-hit hypothesis," fundamentally altering the way scientists think about the onset of cancer and its progression.

Cavenee is the director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research based at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. In 2004, the university named him Distinguished Professor.

Princess Takamatsu became involved in cancer research following the death of her mother from bowel cancer in 1933. In 1968, she established the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund, a trust that allocates public monies to innovative cancer research. Through her various activities, the Princess promoted the importance of collaborations across scientific disciplines and among scientists across the globe.

Cavenee's inaugural lecture is titled “Targeting Defective Receptors in Human Brain Cancer: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.”

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research.