Welcome to beautiful San Diego! We are thrilled to have you at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026, the cornerstone of the global cancer research community. This year, we have more than 22,000 registered attendees—cancer scientists, clinicians, other health care professionals, survivors, and patient advocates from around the world—to discuss the latest cancer research advances, connect with one another, and forge new collaborations.

The AACR Annual Meeting 2026 provides researchers with an unparalleled opportunity to expand the boundaries of what we know about cancer, and the theme of this year’s scientific program reminds us of our guiding mission for these six days and beyond. The theme of “Precision, Partnership, Purpose: Advancing Cancer Science to Save Lives Globally” highlights how scientific progress—driven by interdisciplinarity and partnership across sectors of the cancer community—enables increasingly precise strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The mission to improve patients’ lives and drive progress against cancer in all its forms unites us in our collective purpose no matter where we call home.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our esteemed AACR President, Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR; our AACR Annual Meeting Committees; and our dedicated Program Chairs, Paul S. Mischel, MD, FAACR, and Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, FAACR, for so generously devoting their precious time and expertise to develop an incredibly robust program that captures the spirit of inquiry and collaboration at the heart of this year’s theme.

From paradigm-shifting discovery science to practice-changing clinical trials, the program of this year’s meeting will showcase exciting breakthroughs against cancer that will have immediate and future impact on both cancer research and patient care.

• Six Plenary Sessions will highlight cutting-edge advances in cancer research, with an emphasis on transformative scientific discoveries and innovative technologies. The Opening Plenary on Sunday, April 19, will feature pioneering researchers whose presentations will reflect the meeting theme, and a closing Plenary Session on Wednesday, April 22, will feature key meeting takeaways.   
• Nine types of Advances Sessions, including a new session type on Advances in Survivorship Research, will present the latest research in areas such as early detection and interception, prevention, new technologies, and diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Four Clinical Trial Plenary Sessions will report novel clinical research, as well as the science behind the trials, that offers significant clinical benefit to patients.
• More than 7,400 proffered abstracts will be presented.
• Six Forums and eight scientific Special Sessions will discuss topics such as drug discovery and development, cell-based immunotherapies, and artificial intelligence in cancer research and care.
• More than 65 Educational Sessions and Methods Workshops will feature leaders in their fields presenting state-of-the-art concepts and technologies across a broad range of areas.
• Countless opportunities for networking and professional development will be available.

All Annual Meeting scientific sessions, including those in the Educational Program, will be live streamed on the virtual meeting platform. If you miss a session and wish to view it again, recordings will be available to all registered attendees through the end of October 2026.

 There are many ways to plan your Annual Meeting experience.

• The Online Itinerary Planner provides fully searchable access to the full text of all proffered abstracts.
• The AACR Annual Meeting App includes all proffered abstracts in full.
• The Proceedings of the AACR Annual Meeting containing the full text of all regular proffered abstracts (clinical trial abstracts and late-breaking abstracts are not included) can be downloaded as a PDF.
• Starting at noon PT, all proffered abstracts—including regular, late-breaking, and clinical trial abstracts—will be available as an online-only supplement to the AACR journal Cancer Research.

We hope you will enjoy reading all the great coverage of our meeting in AACR Annual Meeting News. We look forward to seeing you over the next few days!

Register Today for the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 »

Don’t miss the world’s premier cancer research event, April 17 to 22 in San Diego. In-person and virtual registration packages include access to live sessions, Q&A, networking, CME/MOC credits for select sessions within the Educational Program, and more.