The Future of Cancer Diagnostics: Next Generation Molecular Technologies - Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Inaugural Conference.

Cambridge Health Tech Institute's first conference on 'The Future of Cancer Diagnostics: Next Generation Molecular Technologies' covered the following areas: regulatory requirements regarding the validation of new cancer diagnostics; how such validation processes might be suitably implemented from laboratory to clinical pipeline to the bedside; translational strategies, such as proteomics or methylation patterns; and novel biomarkers in oncology. Overall in this golden age of cancer research, the aims and objectives of the meeting were to explore how the implementation of new diagnostic strategies could be facilitated. This meeting examined various topics, including 'Early cancer detection', 'Differential diagnosis', 'Prognostic markers and therapy selection' and 'Circulating tumor cells'. The talks and sessions of the meeting are summarized in this report, with particular focus on preclinical and clinical therapies.