Continuing Medical Education
Accreditation Statement
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education activities for physicians.
Credit Designation Statement
AACR has designated this live activity for a maximum 17.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Credit certification for individual sessions may vary, dependent upon compliance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria. The final number of credits may vary from the maximum number indicated above.
Claiming (CME) Credit
Physicians and other health care professionals seeking AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM for this live continuing medical education activity must complete the online CME Request for Credit Survey by April 25, 2025. Certificates will only be issued to those who complete the survey. Your CME certificate will be sent to you via email after the completion of the activity.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 17.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
To receive ABIM MOC, participants must request MOC in the CME Request for Credit Survey and complete all questions. Once these steps are completed, AACR will submit your completion information via the ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System for the purpose of granting MOC points.
Statement of Educational Need, Target Audience, and Learning Objectives
Advances in deep sequencing technologies, including transcriptomics, genomics, and proteomics, have revolutionized our ability to identify abnormalities in cancer cells that differentiate them from healthy cells. These technologies enable early disease detection, predict relapse, and identify potential biomarkers for clinical use. By analyzing millions of tumor samples and navigating vast datasets, researchers can extract meaningful insights.
While significant breakthroughs in genomic research have led to the identification of therapeutic targets, many of these targets remain insufficiently studied for their prognostic significance or lack corresponding targeted therapies. This gap hinders the effective integration of genomics into clinical practice. To address this, employing omics and other diagnostic techniques alongside functional assays—where individual patients’ tumor cells are exposed to various drugs—can enhance personalized treatment strategies. The conference will explore advancements in these approaches.
Tumor heterogeneity, along with variability within patients, limits the effectiveness of current therapies designed for specific tumor cells. Functional precision medicine employs 2D and 3D culture systems to grow tumor cells and their microenvironment, assessing how they respond to different therapies. The conference will also address developments in ex vivo and in vivo vertebrate models for drug sensitivity screening aimed at guiding personalized medicine.
Response to immunotherapies is often restricted to a specific subset of patients. The conference will highlight multi-omics and computational strategies in immuno-oncology that can help match patients with therapies most likely to benefit them.
This gathering will bring together experts to share their experiences in integrating functional and genomic approaches into patient care. Researchers and clinicians will discuss current technical challenges, such as obtaining viable tumor tissue, adhering to regulatory guidelines, aligning computational models with new data, and minimizing variability across organizations. Experts will also explore optimal clinical trial designs to gather data on predictive and prognostic biomarkers for treatment sensitivity. Furthermore, participants will discuss ways to merge functional and genomic methods within clinical trials, facilitating the implementation of personalized medicine that ensures patients receive the right treatment at the right time.
This activity will be of interest to physician-scientists, physicians, and health care workers who work with cancer patients. Anticipated participants include oncologists, geneticists, pediatricians, and hematologists who either currently implement or may plan on implementing precision medicine in the clinic.
After participating in this CME activity, physicians should be able to:
- Compare genomic and functional precision medicine approaches in blood cancers and solid tumors.
- Articulate how ex vivo patient-derived models can be used to identify biomarkers of response.
- Explain how vertebrate models can be used to guide therapy.
- Identify the challenges of intra-patient and intra-tumor heterogeneity in precision medicine.
- Explain how data from transcriptomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, phospho-proteomics can be leveraged to match patients to therapies.
Disclosure Statement
It is the policy of the AACR that the information presented at AACR CME activities will be unbiased and based on scientific evidence. To help participants make judgments about the presence of bias, AACR will provide information that Scientific Program Committee members and speakers have disclosed all financial relationships they have with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products or services used by or on patients. All of the relevant financial relationships for these individuals have been mitigated
Planner and Speaker Financial Disclosure Index Available Soon
Acknowledgment of Financial or Other Support
This activity is supported by Professional Educational Grants which will be disclosed at the activity.
Questions about CME?
Please read our frequently asked questions, f you still have questions contact the Office of CME at (215) 440-9300 or [email protected].