The American Thoracic Society (ATS) will hold their annual international symposium on pulmonary care scheduled for May 13-18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The ATS conference is titled “Where today’s science meets tomorrow’s care in pulmonary, critical care & sleep medicine” and will feature topics from bioengineering to genetic technologies. The ATS conference brings researchers in pulmonary care together to develop new treatments for lung diseases such as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer that invades the mesothelium – the lining of tissue that surround vital organs. The most common is pleural mesothelioma or cancer of the lining of the lungs. Approximately 3000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma per year and symptoms of mesothelioma generally occur approximately 20 to 30 years after the asbestos exposure.

The ATS Scientific Breakthroughs of the Year session will focus on advances in lung tissue bioengineering. “Lung tissue bioengineering has become an exciting area in lung research,” according to Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, PhD, co-chair of the session. She also added “Rapid advances in tissue engineering have demonstrated the potential of developing functional tissue, which could be used in place of whole-lung transplants.” Although there continues to be breakthroughs in the areas of bioengineering and genetics, there, nevertheless, needs to be more studies and clinical trials to bring new treatments to mesothelioma patients.

Clinical topics at the ATS conference will feature sessions on interstitial lung disease, advances in stage III and IV lung cancer, among other topics. The ATS conference is expected to offer 500 sessions and over 700 speakers. To learn more, go to www.thoracic.org/go/international-conference.