For the first time, the 2009 Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms (PAMM) winter meeting was organized in connection with the EGAM (EORTC Groups Annual Meeting) in Brussels. Furthermore, the PAMM participated in an additional plenary session together with the PathoBiology Group and the functional imaging group during the EGAM itself, in which the Laboratory Research Division summarized their expertise in translational research and gave an overview of what it can offer to the Disease Oriented Groups. The emphasis of the joint meeting was on novel concepts in cancer treatment and on new approaches to monitor therapy and implement personalized strategies.

Three main subtopics could be possibly canvassed out of whole meeting, namely, (a) apoptosis and signalling, (b) cancer stem cells, (c) cancer genome and epigenome profiling.