25 February 2004

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that we had an outstanding meeting in Singapore, arranged most efficiently by Professor Kam M. Hui and his team, 20 - 22 February 2004. The organisation and hospitality were excellent and the scientific programme was absolutely spot on. There was also the opportunity for the Council to meet and to take the following decisions:

• To organise two future meetings - in China and Japan. The meeting in China could be in October 2004 or later in 2005. Professors John Dong, Yajun Guo and Ruian Xu will discuss and agree on the optimum time for the meeting. They will also liaise with local colleagues in order to involve the national leaders and to help the formation of the Chinese Society of Gene Therapy. The same applies to Japan; Professor Nori Kasahara will liaise with his Japanese colleagues and report back to the Society accordingly.

• The Council was also updated on the collaboration between ISCGT and the British Society for Gene Therapy (BSGT). The ISCGT will organise one half-day session as part of the BSGT Inaugural Conference, 28 - 30 March 2004 at Keble College, Oxford, UK.

These events underline the international nature of our Society; the ISCGT is totally unique as it works closely with national societies and organisations, in close collaboration with local clinicians, to promote cell and gene therapies for cancer.The ISCGT has now held numerous meetings in the USA and UK, as well as conferences in France, Germany, Italy, Egypt and Singapore.

• The Council discussed the forthcoming Presidency. Professor James Norris will take over from me on 1st January 2005; Professor Norris will be succeeded by Professor Farzin Farzaneh in January 2007. It was also agreed that Professor Albert Deisseroth will take over as Secretary General from Professor Farzaneh on 1st January 2007. This will continue the tradition of alternating the Presidency between Europe and the USA and also between basic scientists and clinical researchers. With the wider participation of Asian colleagues, one would envisage that the leading roles in the Society would also rotate around the world.

• The relationship between the Society and the journal Cancer Gene Therapy has been discussed once again, without consensus. It is hoped that Professor Farzaneh will help the Council to make a decision one way or another; whether to include online journal subscription as part of the ISCGT membership, its advantage being that it links the Society to the journal firmly, however, the drawback is that it will increase membership fees by about 200%.

• Discussions have also taken place with the journal Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy and we are now able to adopt this as one of the Society's journals. ISCGT Members will be able to subscribe to CII at a greatly reduced rate. We plan to take up similar discussions with other relevant journals in the field with the aim of expanding membership benefits.

The main focus of the Society is to foster camaraderie and scientific collaboration between scientists and clinicians around the world in cell and gene therapies of cancer. I am very proud to be associated with the Society at a time when it is becoming so firmly established. I do recognise the fact that we need to continue to grow and to remain responsive to the rapidly evolving science of our subject. I hope that with continued active participation from all of us, including the ongoing promotion of Society membership, we will witness further growth of ISCGT and its active contribution to cell and gene therapy of cancer in the international arena.

Yours sincerely,

Nagy