In This Section

Program

Beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 25, and continuing all day Saturday, April 26, 2025, a program of Educational Sessions and Methods Workshops will be presented. The program on Saturday will conclude with the Discovery Science Plenary Session titled, “Novel Mechanisms Influencing Cancer Evolution,” (4:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m.) The Opening Ceremony and the Opening Plenary Session will take place on Sunday morning, April 27. The meeting will conclude at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30.  The 2025 Program in Progress follows: 

Educational Program: Educational Sessions and Methods Workshops 

The Educational Program is an integral part of the meeting and provides attendees with an opportunity to expand their knowledge base in new and exciting fields. Add the Educational Program Pass to your registration to access this important program. The Educational Program consists of more than 65 unique sessions covering all areas of cancer research and features updates on critical topics and new technologies. As part of these sessions, the following popular sessions and topics will be included. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 

• Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy for Nonimmunologists. This exciting session is part of the yearly programming presented at the AACR Annual Meeting and organized in conjunction with the AACR Cancer Immunology Working Group. This popular session provides a comprehensive review of hot topics in the field and allows ample time for questions from the audience. 

• Chemistry to the Clinic. This multi-part series, organized in conjunction with the AACR Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group, provides meeting attendees with foundational knowledge of critical elements of the cancer drug design and development process, such as lead optimization and identification of molecular targets and novel drug modalities. 

• Clinical Trial Design. These Methods Workshops will provide attendees with a historical and methodologic understanding of clinical trials and demonstrate how to design an appropriate trial to answer the scientific questions presented by emerging treatments. Sessions will also focus on biostatistics in clinical trials. 

• Data Science. Several sessions will focus on exciting advances and emerging opportunities in cancer research. Sessions will also explore the integration of data science in advancing cancer science and medicine. 

Plenary Sessions 

Saturday, April 26, 2025  
Discovery Science Plenary 
Novel Mechanisms Influencing Cancer Evolution 
Chair: Ashok R. Venkitaraman, Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Singapore 

  • Inigo Martincorena, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom  
  • Nicola Segata, University of Trento, Trento, Italy  
  • Yang Shi, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford, United Kingdom 
  • M. Celeste Simon, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Sunday, April 27, 2025 
Opening Plenary Session  
Unifying Cancer Science and Medicine: A Continuum of Innovation for Impact 
Chairs: Matthew G. Vander Heiden, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lillian L. Siu, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada  

  • Johanna A. Joyce, University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland  
  • Paul S. Mischel, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California  
  • Kevan M. Shokat, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 
  • Catherine J. Wu, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 

Monday, April 28, 2025 
Innovative Technologies Driving Advances in Cancer Research 
Chair: Alberto Bardelli, IFOM and University of Turin, Turin, Italy 

  • Marcela V. Maus, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Trevor J. Pugh, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
  • Matthias P. Lütolf, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland 
  • Muhammad Shaalan Beg, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 

Tuesday, April 29, 2025 
Targeting the Cancer Ecosystem 
Chair: Mara H. Sherman, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 

  • Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom 
  • Matthew (Max) F. Krummel, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California  
  • Yardena Samuels, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel 
  • Kurt A. Schalper, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 

Wednesday, April 30, 2025  
Opportunities in Predictive Oncology 
Chair: David W. Craig, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California 

  • Andrea Califano, Columbia University, New York, New York 
  • Christina Curtis, Stanford University, Stanford, California 
  • Marleen Kok, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands  
  • John S. Tsang, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 

Wednesday, April 30, 2025  
AACR Annual Meeting 2025 Highlights: Vision for the Future  
Chairs: Matthew G. Vander Heiden, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lillian L. Siu, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada  

  • Speakers to be announced 

Presidential Select Symposium  

Monday, April 28, 2025   
Presidential Select Symposium: Leveraging Science to Reduce the Cancer Burden Worldwide
Chair: Robert G. Bristow, Manchester Cancer Research Center, Manchester, United Kingdom
Introduction: Patricia M. LoRusso, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 

  • Speakers to be announced 

Major Symposia 

  • A Decade of Ferroptosis: From Breakthroughs to Therapeutic Opportunities  
  • A New Frontier for Combination Therapy: Identification and Pharmacologic Targeting of Non-oncogene Dependencies in Coexisting Malignant State  
  • AACR Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) Scientific Symposium  
  • AACR-Bayard D. Clarkson Symposium: Unraveling the Role of Lineage Plasticity in Drug Resistance  
  • Advances in Cancer Vaccines  
  • Advances in Understanding How HIPPO Signaling Pathway Regulates in Cell Fate, Tumor Growth, and Therapy Response  
  • Cancer Survivorship  
  • Cardio-oncology  
  • Climate Change and Cancer  
  • Clinical Applications of Systems Biology  
  • Clonal Hematopoiesis and Beyond: The Aging Immune System in Cancer  
  • Developments in RAS Signaling Inhibition: Bench to Bedside  
  • ecDNA Amplification and Rearrangements: Genesis, Drivers, and Pathology  
  • Epigenetics: Mechanism to Translational Impact in Solid Tumors  
  • Evolutionary Therapies  
  • Exploiting Synthetic Lethality in the Clinic: Novel Agents beyond PARP Inhibitors  
  • Fusion Oncoprotein-driven Malignancies: From Mechanisms to Therapies  
  • Harnessing the Microbiota for Cancer Treatment  
  • Host Parameters of Cachexia and Inflammation and Early Biomarkers of Clinical Response  
  • Immunology of Premalignancy In Situ  
  • Immunometabolism  
  • Influence of Metabolism on Cell Cycle Progression 
  • Influence of the Nervous System on Cancer  
  • Insights in Carrier Systems, Radionuclides, and Sensitivity for Optimal Radiotheranostics   
  • Intratumoral Microbiota and Cancer: Friend or Foe?  
  • Lymph Nodes and Lymphoid Structures Affecting Anti-tumor Immunity  
  • Mechanisms of Heterogeneity and Therapeutic Responses  
  • Mechanisms Underlying Geographical Disparities in Cancer Pathogenesis  
  • Metabolic and Environmental Triggers for Cancer Evolution  
  • Metabolism and Organelle Biology in Cancer   
  • Minimal Residual Disease (MRD)  
  • Mitochondrial Biology in Cancer  
  • Overcoming the Tumor Suppressive Role of the Innate Immune System within the Tumor Microenvironment  
  • Phase Separations and Condensates  
  • The Radiobiology Underpinning the Therapeutic Ratio  
  • Stress, Senescence, and Cellular Aging in Cancer  
  • Targeting Innate Immune Cell Subsets  
  • Tissue Mechanics and Physical Forces in Cancer  
  • Transcending Boundaries: Harnessing Induced Proximity Pharmacology for Next-Generation Anti-Cancer Therapies  
  • Understanding Organ-tropic Metastasis  
  • Unmasking Resistance: Deciphering Mechanisms and Charting New Frontiers in Cancer Therapies  
  • Unraveling the Mechanisms of Action for Combined Immune-Radiation Therapy  
  • Unravelling the Developmental Roots of Childhood Cancer  
  • What are the Best Antigens for Anti-tumor Immunity?  

Advances in Diagnostics and Therapeutics 

  • Advances in the How, Why and When Neoadjuvant Treatment for Solid Tumors  
  • Bispecifics: The Case for Duality  
  • Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of Next Generation Antibody Drug Conjugates   
  • Next Generation Cell Cycle Inhibitors: Bench to Beside  
  • Protein Degraders: Progress to the Clinic  

Advances in Early Detection and Interception  

  • Challenges to Implementing Cancer Early Detection  
  • Novel Multicancer and Single Cancer Detection Technologies  
  • Opportunities in Cancer Early Detection  

Advances in Hematologic Malignancies 

  • Advances in Myeloma Research and Treatment  
  • Chromothripsis in Hematological Malignancies  
  • Epigenetics and RNA Modification in Hematologic Malignancies  
  • Leukemia: Tracking Early Disease and MRD   
  • Lymphoma: Updates from Bench to Bedside  

Advances in Organ Site Research 

  • A Paradigm Shift in Therapies for Kinase-driven Hepatobiliary Cancer  
  • Curing Pancreatic Cancer  
  • Development of Chemo-immunotherapy in Gastro-esophageal Cancer  
  • DNA Damage and Inflammation in the Development and Progression of Brain Cancer  
  • Early-onset Colorectal cancer: From Clinical Evidence to Biological Insights  
  • Emergence of Neuroendocrine Cancers as Resistance to Therapy  
  • Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis  
  • New Paradigms in Lung Cancer Treatment  
  • Optimizing and Moving beyond PSMA Based Radiopharmaceuticals for Prostate Cancer  
  • Rare Tumors  
  • Update from SABCS 2024  

Advances in Population Sciences 

  • Cancer in Understudied Populations: How Do We Advance Science and Improve Patient Outcomes?  
  • Emerging Risk Factors for Cancer: Ultra-processed Foods and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances  
  • Sustaining Cancer Prevention and Control Programs in Diverse Communities: Model Community-Living Learning Health Systems  

Advances in Prevention Research 

  • Comparative Oncology: Nature’s Solutions to Cancer Prevention  
  • HPV and Cervical Cancer in Low- and Middle-Income Countries  
  • New Game Plan for Cancer Prevention: Tackling Tumors by Intercepting the Host Microenvironment   
  • Prevention at the Crossroad of Exposome and Socio-Geographical Determinants  
  • Prevention of Second Cancers  
  • Viruses in Cancer and Viral-induced Cancers  

Advances in the Science of Cancer Disparities 

  • Cancer and Indigenous Populations: From Risk Factors to Cancer Care Delivery to Policy  
  • Geography and Molecular Taxonomy of Prostate Cancer  
  • Health Inequities across the Cancer Clinical Research Continuum  
  • Improving Outcomes for Young Adults with Cancer  

Advances in Technologies 

  • AI for Cancer Drug Discovery  
  • Allostery as a Source of Breakthrough Cancer Therapeutics  
  • Multi-modal Data Integration for Outcome Predictions  

Forums and Special Sessions 

  • AACR-JCA Joint Session on Brain Cancer  
  • AACR-ASCO Joint Session  
  • Advances in Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) and CAR T Therapies  
  • AI-based Biomarkers and Digital Pathology in Precision Oncology  
  • Bringing Science to the Clinic: Overcoming Hurdles for Therapeutic Translation  
  • Dietary Intervention to Improve Response to Cancer Therapy and Reduce Side Effects  
  • Intra-tumor Heterogeneity of Cancer Models: Towards More Realistic Models for Therapy  
  • Opportunities, Challenges, and Approaches in Multi-Center Cancer Clinical Trials: In Collaboration with the AACR Cancer Centers Alliance  
  • Realizing the PRO-tential: Implementing Patient Reported Outcomes in Health Systems to Improve Health and Well-being  
  • Relevance of Biostatistics in Preclinical Studies and Clinical Trials  
  • The Role of Surgery in Modern Cancer Treatment: Missed Opportunities or a Dying Therapeutic Approach  
  • Promoting Societal Trust in Science and Cultivating Diversity  

New Drugs on the Horizon Sessions 

Held in collaboration with the AACR Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group, this special three-part session series features first disclosures of the chemistry and biology of small- and large-molecule agents that are currently being or will soon be actively investigated in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. The abstract submission and review process is distinct from the regular and late-breaking abstract submission processes. The deadline to submit an abstract for consideration is November 1. For more information, visit the New Drugs on the Horizon page.  

Science and Public Policy Program 

Decisions made by policymakers in Washington, DC, have a direct impact on cancer research and the progress being made against cancer in the United States and throughout the world. The AACR sponsors sessions with policymakers, academic researchers, patient advocates, cancer survivors, and industry representatives to foster dialogue about emerging topics in science and health policy as well as regulatory science and policy.  

The Science and Health Policy Track includes sessions that will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn about how policy impacts science and vice versa. Science policy sessions will examine the current political environment affecting federal funding for the NIH and NCI, including highlighting ways for scientists to get involved in advocating for robust, sustained, and predictable budget increases.  

Health policy sessions will explore how scientific evidence can inform policy on cancer prevention and control and what impact policies are having on patients and communities. Past health policy sessions have covered topics such as e-cigarettes and tobacco control measures, the Affordable Care Act, and ways to prevent and control pathogen-related cancers, such as increasing the use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.  

The Regulatory Science and Policy Track includes informative sessions designed to highlight recent regulatory developments and provide an open forum for the consideration of issues that the FDA faces as the agency seeks to accelerate the pace of approval of safe and effective treatments for patients with cancer. These sessions offer an opportunity for attendees to discuss cutting-edge issues in cancer drug, biologic, and diagnostic regulation with stakeholders from academia, industry, advocacy, and government. Past regulatory science and policy topics have included strategies for increasing participation of underrepresented populations in clinical trials, guidance for using real-world evidence to support clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory considerations for developing liquid biopsy tests, implications of site-agnostic therapy approval for drug development, and applications for artificial intelligence/machine learning in regulatory decision-making.  

The Science of Survivorship Track includes sessions highlighting new and high-value areas of research to address the array of challenges facing long-term cancer survivors. Sessions invite trans-sector discussion among the survivor and advocacy communities, basic and clinical researchers, industry representatives, health care providers, and government officials. Past science of survivorship topics have included aging and cancer, long-term survivorship in vulnerable populations, development of new survivorship models, patient-reported outcomes, data sharing, and patient engagement.