Cancer is a class of diseases characterised by the three traits of uncontrolled growth, invasion and metastasis. Once diagnosed, the standard treatment is some combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. With more recent research developments, treatments are becoming more specific for different types of cancer. There have been significant advances in the development of targetted drug therapies that hone in on detectable molecular abnormalities (thus minimising damage to normal cells), development of novel drug delivery systems, optimization of combination therapies and in numerous other directions. Hand in hand with the significant advances in experimental cancer biology and clinical oncology, the last decade has witnessed an increasing interaction between oncology and the mathematical sciences. This has resulted in an interdisciplinary field of research nowadays referred to as "mathematical oncology". This synergistic interaction between oncology and mathematics heralds an era (in the not-too-distant future) where mathematical oncology will become an integral part of the study of cancer. This workshop brings together cancer biologists, clinical researchers and mathematical scientists, to provide stimulus and impetus to this interdisciplinary approach which will, no doubt, be central to the conquest of cancer.

Invited Speakers (speaker abstracts)