Eighth annual meeting of the Italian network for tumor biotherapy (NIBIT), Siena, October 7-9, 2010

Introduction: NIBIT (acronym for the Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori—Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy) is a non-profit association created in 2004 to promote and foster scientific and operative interactions among Italian professionals involved in the field of cancer bioimmunotherapy. To date, more than 100 members representing over 40 national academic, regulatory, and industrial groups are part of the NIBIT. Aim of the annual meeting of the NIBIT is the discussion of recent preclinical and clinical results obtained by various Italian groups of the Network in the field of cancer immunology and biotherapy. Traditionally, the NIBIT meeting also hosts foreign speakers for keynote lectures on hot topics in the NIBIT field of interest. Like every year, the eighth annual meeting of the NIBIT took place in the Certosa of Pontignano, a Tuscan Carthusian monastery close to Siena. The 2010 main topics were as follows: (1) immunology of cancer stem cells; (2) prostate cancer immunotherapy; (3) immunomodulation therapy; (4) new aspects in cancer vaccines; (5) NIBIT and other Italian clinical trials.