CHALLENGING DRUG-RESISTANCE IN CANCER-THERAPY - REVIEW OF THE FIRST NORDIC CONFERENCE ON CHEMORESISTANCE IN CANCER-TREATMENT, OCTOBER 9TH AND 10TH, 1997

The First Nordic Conference on Chemoresistance in Cancer Treatment was held in the Danish town of Helsingor on October 9th and 10th, 1997, u nder the auspices of the Nordic Cancer Chemoresistance Group (NCCG). T he meeting focused on biochemical chemoresistance in a multidisciplina ry approach. There were 19 oral and 15 poster presentations documentin g recent advances in experimental and clinical research of drug transp ort mechanisms, DNA repair systems, detoxifying enzymes, drug target r egulation, in vitro sensitivity tests, apoptosis inhibition, and strat egies to circumvent chemoresistance. In the present paper we review th e main issues that were addressed and discuss the findings with refere nce to the current literature in the field. The meeting demonstrated t he plurality and the complexity of chemoresistance, which is a major o bstacle to successful chemotherapy in cancer patients. The new insight s to mechanisms of drug resistance and sensitization represent a usefu l basis for further development of strategies to circumvent chemoresis tance in clinical practice.