The annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Conference, now in its fifth year, is scheduled for Nov. 15-16 in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference focuses on bringing attendees together to “discuss ongoing research, showcase new ideas from young scientists, and bring together advocates who are working with metastatic breast cancer.”

After being hosted by Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine the last three years, the 2018 conference will be hosted by the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

“There has been frustration on the patient side and from advocates with the lack of emphasis with metastatic/stage IV breast cancer,” Vered Stearns, MD, from the John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, said in a prepared statement. “Less than 7 percent of funding goes toward metastatic breast cancer research. We want to bring in the best researchers, the best ideas, and invite patients and patient advocates to Johns Hopkins to find new ways and get them into the thought process.”

“Metastatic breast cancer needs a dedicated, long-term effort to find curative approaches,” Matthew Ellis, PhD, one of the conference’s longtime leaders, said in the same statement. “This conference helps to benchmark these efforts and create the collaborative research environment that is a prerequisite for progress.”

Abstract submissions are being accepted from July 5 to Sept. 5. More information is available on the Metastatic Breast Cancer Conference website.