THURSDAY, October 30
9:00 REGISTRATION
9:30 OPENING REMARKS
Assoc. Prof. Michal Šimíček, PhD
SESSION I – New Aspects of Modern Immunotherapies for Multiple Myeloma
Chair: Assoc. Prof. Michal Šimíček, PhD
9:40 Novel Proximity-Labelling Approach to Investigate CAR-based Immune Synapse
Quynh Nhu Nguyen, MSc – Blood Cancer Research Group, Ostrava, CZ
9:55 Drug Delivery Systems with Polymer and Metal Nanoparticles in Multiple Myeloma
Gül Kozalak, PhD – Sabancı University, Istanbul, TR
10:10 Synthetic Lipid Rafts Formed by Cholesterol Nano-Patch Induce Early T Cell Activation
Yunmin Jung, PhD – Blood Cancer Research Group, Ostrava, CZ
10:30 COFFEE BREAK
SESSION II – NK Cell Advances: From Receptor Complexity to Engineered Therapies
Chairs: Jana Kotulová, PhD, Zuzana Chyra, PhD
10:50 Fitness of Immunotherapeutic NK Cells for Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Challenges and Opportunities
Jan Frič, PhD – Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague, CZ
11:05 Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor (KIR) Isoforms – the Next Level of Heterogeneity
Robin Klieber, MSc – Laboratory of Tumour Biology and Immunotherapy, Pilsen, CZ
11:20 Disruption of NKG2A:HLA-E Interactions to Improve NK Cell Activation Against Haematological Malignancies
Assoc. Prof. Matthew Blunt, PhD (online) – University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
11:40 LUNCH BREAK
SESSION III – Molecular Insights into Myeloma Progression and Dissemination
Chairs: Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Jelínek, MD, PhD, Tereza Ševčíková, PhD
13:15 Breaking the Silence: Unveiling Genomic Instability in Hidden Regions of the Myeloma Genome
Aneta Mikulášová, PhD – Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
13:30 Aberrant Single-Cell Phenotype and Clinical Implications of Genotypically
Defined Polyclonal Plasma Cells in Myeloma
Francesca Lazzaroni, PhD – University of Milan, IT
13:45 Circulating Tumor Cells in Myeloma Are a Compound Biomarker High-Risk Genomic Alterations and Tumor Burden
Luca Bertamini, MD – Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, NL
14:00 The Impact of Bone Marrow Immune Cells on Therapy Response in Newly-Diagnosed Myeloma Patients
Assoc. Prof. Tom Cupedo, PhD – Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, NL
14:15 Why Myeloma Cells Circulate: Bone Marrow Biology and Molecular Profiles of High CTC Burden
Daniel Bílek, MSc – Blood Cancer Research Group, Ostrava, CZ
14:30 Genomic and Immune Determinants of Response to Anti-CD38 Monoclonal Antibody-Based Quadruplet Therapy in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
Michael Durante, MD, PhD – Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, USA
14:50 COFFEE BREAK
POSTER SESSION
Committee: Assoc. Prof. Sabina Ševčíková, PhD, Yunmin Jung, PhD, Juli Rodríguez Bagó, PhD (chair)
15:00 All posters
15:30 Spotlight Presentations of Preselected Posters
16:00 CLOSING REMARKS
Prof. Roman Hájek, MD, PhD
18:00 DINNER
FRIDAY, October 31
SESSION IV – Generation of Potent and Safe CAR T Cell Products
Chair: Piotr Celichowski, PhD
9:30 Epigenome Editing to Shape CAR T Cells with Potentially Beneficial Features
Claudio Mussolino, PhD – Research Group Genome and Epigenome Engineering, Freiburg, DE
9:45 Jumping Genes for Therapeutic Cell Engineering
Prof. Zoltan Ivics, PhD – Institute of Clinical Immunology, Leipzig, DE
10:10 CD4 T Cell Exhaustion and the Epigenetic Regulation of these Processes
Prof. Elzbieta Sarnowska, PhD – National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, PL
10:25 Base Editing Strategy Enables the Generation of NK-resistance Allogenic CAR T Cells
Jamal Alzubi, PhD – Blood Cancer Research Group, Ostrava, CZ
10:45 COFFEE BREAK
11:00 EVALUATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF BEST POSTERS
SESSION V – Academic Approach to CAR T Therapy
Chair: Prof. Roman Hájek, MD, PhD
11:15 CAR-T Therapy Availability in CEE Region of EU: 2025
Prof. Roman Hájek, MD, PhD – Blood Cancer Research Group, Ostrava, CZ
11:30 Non-Viral Production of CAR-T Cells: Advancing Clinical Manufacturing Using PiggyBac and Linear DNA/ mRNA-Based Transposase Systems
Assoc. Prof. Irena Koutná, PhD – St. Anne's University Hospital, Brno, CZ
11:45 Phase I Trials of CAR-T Cells against CD19 Positive and CD123 Positive Haematological Malignancies
Jan Vydra, MD, PhD – Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague, CZ
12:00 ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION – CHALLENGES AND ISSUES: Patenting and Licensing of Academic CAR-T Cells
Petr Lesný, MD, PhD – Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague, CZ
12:40 CLOSING REMARKS OF THE MCTW 2025
Prof. Roman Hájek, MD, PhD
12:45 LUNCH BREAK