Introduction There is now a body of literature that establishes the prognostic value of detecting micrometastatic spread of tumor cells to the BM and lymph nodes in a large variety of malignancies. An increasing number of investigators have therefore employed immunocytological approaches (with or without tumor enrichment procedures) to detect individual disseminated neoplastic cells based on their phenotypic characteristics. More recently, the development of molecular techniques such as the PCR has given the potential for detection based on tumor-specific genomic changes. At this conference investigators, actively working in the growing field of micrometastasis research, discussed the current concepts, clinical and research implications of detecting micrometastatic cells, whether at diagnosis, prior to autologous stem-cell transplantation or after therapy. The conference was attended by more than 300 scientists from 20 different countries. As stated by the organizing committee, the meeting had three major goals: n Providing a platform for young scientists to present their research. n Determining the clinical relevance of micrometastatic cells in a variety of tumors. n Presenting modern developments in the field of the detection and treatment of micrometastases. The success of the first aim was achieved, as evidenced by the 100 high quality abstracts which were presented and discussed in the workshops and poster sessions. The five plenary sessions concentrated on: (1) The tumor biology of early micrometastasis; (2) Advanced methods for characterisation of cancer cells; (3) Clinical relevance of minimal residual detection (MRD) detection; (4) MRD in stem-cell transplantation; (5) Therapeutic strategies in MRD. Specialized areas of micrometastasis research were covered in the four workshops: (1) Methodological challenges of MRD detection; (2) Metastasis in head and neck tumors; (3) Staging and monitoring of MRD; (4) Novel therapies against residual tumor cells.

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介绍 现在有大量文献确定了检测肿瘤细胞微转移扩散到多种恶性肿瘤的 BM 和淋巴结的预后价值。因此，越来越多的研究人员采用免疫细胞学方法（有或没有肿瘤富集程序）根据表型特征检测个体播散性肿瘤细胞。最近，分子技术（如 PCR）的发展提供了基于肿瘤特异性基因组变化进行检测的潜力。在本次会议上，活跃于不断发展的微转移研究领域的研究人员讨论了检测微转移细胞的当前概念、临床和研究意义，无论是在诊断、自体干细胞移植前或治疗后。来自20个不同国家的300多名科学家参加了此次会议。正如组委会所说，会议有三个主要目标： n 为年轻科学家提供一个展示他们研究成果的平台。n 确定微转移细胞在多种肿瘤中的临床相关性。n 介绍微转移检测和治疗领域的现代发展。第一个目标取得了成功，在研讨会和海报会议上展示和讨论的 100 份高质量摘要证明了这一点。五次全体会议集中讨论：（1）早期微转移的肿瘤生物学；(2) 表征癌细胞的先进方法；（3）最小残留检测（MRD）检测的临床相关性；(4) 干细胞移植中的MRD；(5) MRD 的治疗策略。四个研讨会涵盖了微转移研究的专业领域： (1) MRD 检测的方法学挑战；(2)头颈部肿瘤转移；(3) MRD的分期和监测；(4) 针对残留肿瘤细胞的新疗法。