July 20-22, 2020
Virtual Meeting

Program Committee Chair

David A. Tuveson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York

Program Committee

Dafna Bar-Sagi, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York
John M. Carethers, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Gypsyamber D’Souza, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Keith T. Flaherty, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Marina Garassino, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland
Karen E. Knudsen, Thomas Jefferson University, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Antoni Ribas, University of California, Los Angeles, California
E. John Wherry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This special AACR conference will focus on the presentation of emerging data in basic, clinical, and epidemiologic research related to COVID-19 and cancer. COVID-19 has altered our approaches to caring for patients with cancer, and the negative ramifications related to cancer outcomes and psychosocial disorders and methods to mitigate these risks will be discussed. The increased incidence of severe COVID-19 in certain ethnic backgrounds and association with socioeconomic disparities will be highlighted. COVID-19 has encouraged innovation by cancer investigators to address this pandemic, including new diagnostic assays using nucleotide sequencing and serologic methods that were previously developed to study cancer; the development of new virus-targeted drugs based on the knowledge of COVID-19 proteins as has been done for years with targeted therapies for cancer; the testing of next-generation vaccines with similar principles as cancer vaccines; and the use of repurposed oncology drugs to treat COVID-19 patients. Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19 upon society and patients with cancer, the pandemic has hastened innovative changes to cancer care that are transforming patient access to treatments and clinical trials. Advances such as the implementation of telehealth, remote consenting for clinical trials, and access to home infusions, among others, will be discussed. These changes in the conduct of clinical trials have regulatory implications, and regulators, investigators, and industry specialists will discuss their impact on drug development. All abstract submissions will undergo peer review and must include the analysis of relevant original data from laboratory, clinical, or epidemiologic studies.

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