The goal of the 7th ISCC was to provide a forum for exchange of the most recent and relevant information on the biological, cellular, and molecular changes that occur during nonmelanoma and melanoma skin tumor development as well as the development of new models to study the disease. Another major emphasis of the conference was prevention and in particular the mechanistic aspects of chemopreventive strategies.
The ISCC grew out of a meeting held in Madrid, Spain in 1994, which was attended by approximately 40-50 scientists. The meeting was so successful scientifically that a decision was made to hold this conference biannually and to rotate host institutions. In 1996 and 1998, the conference was held in Bastrop, TX and was hosted by the MD Anderson Cancer Center. The 4th ISCC, in 2000 was held in Tucson Arizona, organized by G. Tim Bowden and Marianne Broome-Powell. The 5th Conference was held in Gifu, Japan, organized by Toshio Kuroki, and the 6th ISCC was held in Salishan Lodge, Gleneden Beach, Oregon in conjunction with the Montagna Symposium on the Biology of the Skin and was organized by Molly Kulesz-Martin and Susan Fischer.
The articles included in this issue are minireviews specially submitted by speakers of the 7th ISCC following an invitation from the Editor of Molecular Carcinogenesis and the Organizers of the meeting. They provide updates in a wide range of topics of high interest for investigators in cancer causation and prevention.
The first two reviews are focused on stem cells and initiation. Rebecca Morris and Carol Trempus provide a historical perspective on keratinocyte stem cells and summarized the evidence suggesting a role of these cells on chemically induced cancer. Molly Kulesz-Martin and Yuangang Liu presented two alternative target genes for UV initiation, MK4, a MAP kinase phospatase and Trim32, an E3 ligase.
Another important area covered by these reviews was the study of signal transduction pathways