On February 18, 2025, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) issued a public statement expressing serious concern that actions by the administration are threatening the missions of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), two agencies that have long served as pillars of biomedical progress.

These actions and other policy proposals—such as delayed funding disbursements, indiscriminate dismissals of staff, and proposed changes to critical infrastructure support—have alarmed scientists, physicians, and patients at leading institutions across the country.

Cancer Research at a Crossroads: Sustaining Progress Against Cancer for the Benefit of Patients

At 1 p.m. CT, respected leaders from the scientific, policy, and patient advocacy communities will participate in an important panel discussion, Cancer Research at a Crossroads: Sustaining Progress Against Cancer for the Benefit of Patients, to examine the impact of recent federal actions on clinical trials, scientific careers, and patient access to new treatments.

This session—which will take place in Room S100A (Grand Ballroom A) of McCormick Place South (Level 1)—will also highlight effective strategies for advocating for cancer research, protecting scientific progress, and improving public confidence in science and medicine.

The critical conversation will be moderated by Clifton Leaf, adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University, visiting member of the Ellison Medical Institute, and former editor-in-chief of FORTUNE.

The esteemed panelists are:

• AACR President Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), FAACR, Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine, chief of the early phase clinical trials program, and associate cancer center director for experimental therapeutics at the Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital;
• Monica Bertagnolli, MD, former director of the NIH and former director of the NCI;
• W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, former director of the NCI and incoming CEO of The Ohio State James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute;
• E. John Wherry, PhD, chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics and director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine;
• Kristen Dahlgren, an award-winning journalist, breast cancer survivor, patient advocate, and founder and chief executive officer of the Cancer Vaccine Coalition;
• Larry Saltzman, MD, a retired physician living with leukemia who was featured in the AACR Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Research and Patient Care and the former executive research director for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; and
• Cody Wolf, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Virginia and a member of the AACR Associate Member Council.

This session is just one of several at the Annual Meeting focusing on science and health policy, regulatory policy, and other related topics. Learn more about these additional sessions below, and check the Annual Meeting App and Online Program Planner for the most up-to-date information on session dates, times, and locations.

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SCIENCE AND HEALTH POLICY AND REGULATORY POLICY SESSIONS

DC06 – What Defines the Gold Standard for Validating Blood-based Cancer Tests?

Sunday, April 27, 1-2:30 p.m. CT
Room S106, McCormick Place South (Level 1)

This Major Symposium will focus on the crucial role that reference standards play in test development and the intersection of reference standards with study design to support the clinical validation of single (SCED) and multicancer early detection (MCED) tests. The session will specifically address the challenges faced by novel SCED and MCED tests, with insights from experts in study design, regulatory affairs, clinical practice, and test development.

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DC15 – Patient Advocate Poster Symposium: Community Outreach and Engagement

Sunday, April 27, 3-5 p.m. CT
Room S402, McCormick Place South (Level 4)

Community collaborations can improve the acceptance, understanding, and ability of the public to work with cancer researchers on clinical trial enrollment, improving health literacy, adoption of preventative treatments, meeting the unique needs of patients with cancer, and more. This Major Symposium highlights the powerful intersection of patient advocacy and community outreach and efforts to improve treatments and outcomes for all patients.

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PO.RSP01.01 – Regulatory Science and Policy

Monday, April 28, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT
South Hall A1-2, McCormick Place Convention Center, Poster Section 48

This Poster Session includes presentations on drug development, clinical trial attrition, dose selection, data collection, endpoints, cancer cachexia, and artificial intelligence in patient care. E-posters will remain available on the virtual meeting platform through the end of October.

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DC05 – Regulatory Trends Shaping the Future of Cancer Drug Development

Monday, April 28, 10:15-11:45 a.m. CT
Room S106, McCormick Place South (Level 1)

This Major Symposium aims to explore macro-level trends impacting oncology drug development. Key subjects will include various regulatory hot topics such as dose optimization, inclusion/exclusion criteria, combination studies, multiregional clinical trials, surrogate endpoints, patient-reported outcomes, and more. Special focus will be placed on the intersection of these topics. The session will culminate with a panel discussion on the challenges experts face in their respective areas of oncology drug development and emerging ideas for overcoming these barriers.

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PO.SHP01.02 – Cancer Disparities and Costs of Care / Grant Peer Review

Monday, April 28, 2-5 p.m. CT
South Hall A1-2, McCormick Place Convention Center, Poster Section 40

This Poster Session includes 12 presentations examining cancer health disparities and efforts to overcome these hurdles. E-posters will remain available on the virtual meeting platform through the end of October.

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DC07 – Molecular Tumor Profiling for Pediatric Oncology

Monday, April 28, 3-4:30 p.m. CT
Room S106, McCormick Place South (Level 1)

Chaired by E. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD, this Major Symposium will feature presentations from Alanna Joyce Church, MD; Katherine A. Janeway, MD, MMSc; and AACR Past President Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR. Sweet-Cordero and Janeway are the current and former chairs, respectively, of the AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group Steering Committee.

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PO.SHP01.01 – Cancer Survivorship and Patient Communication / Patient Advocacy and Engagement

Tuesday, April 29, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT
South Hall A1-2, McCormick Place Convention Center, Poster Section 8

This Poster Session features 22 presentations highlighting issues impacting patients and survivors and efforts to enhance patient advocacy efforts. E-posters will remain available on the virtual meeting platform through the end of October.

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DC04 – Implementing Multiregional Clinical Trials (MRCTs) for Cancer Research in an Evolving World

Tuesday, April 29, 10:15-11:45 a.m. CT
Room S106 A, McCormick Place South (Level 1)

This Major Symposium will explore the key operational hurdles faced when conducting multiregional clinical trials, including regulatory complexities, logistical coordination across multiple regions, and cultural differences that may affect patient recruitment and retention. Additionally, panelists will discuss strategies for overcoming these challenges, such as optimizing trial designs, fostering cross-border collaboration, and utilizing advanced technology to streamline data management and monitoring.

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DC09 – Modernizing Performance Statistics for Clinical Validation of Blood-based Cancer Screening Tests

Tuesday, April 29, 4-5:30 p.m. CT
Room S106, McCormick Place South (Level 1)

This Major Symposium will explore the potential for multicancer early detection (MCED) tests to overcome the limitations of traditional cancer-specific screenings. The discussion will center on the metrics currently being used to evaluate the clinical validity of MCED tests with the goal of determining the role of novel metrics that take into account the differences between MCED tests and traditional single-cancer screening tests. Speakers will also discuss the benefits of MCED tests in identifying cancers that are often underscreened or less understood, their capacity to address health disparities, and their implications for cancer prevention, early intervention, and reducing cancer mortality.

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DC01 – Bridging the Gap: Ensuring a Broad Representation of Patients in Cancer Clinical Trials

Registered attendees with an Educational Program Pass can view the recording of this Educational Session, held yesterday, on the virtual meeting platform through the end of October.

This session examined the critical issue of equitable access to cancer clinical trials, highlighting the challenges faced by underrepresented groups and the multifaceted barriers to clinical trial participation. The session also explored policy strategies and frameworks to help eliminate these barriers.

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DC02 – Rising Rates of Early-onset Cancers: Understanding the Shift and Exploring Policy Solutions

Registered attendees with an Educational Program Pass can view the recording of this Educational Session, held yesterday, on the virtual meeting platform through the end of October.

This session explored the multifaceted causes of early-onset cancer, including genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, as well as potential gaps in current screening and diagnostic methods. Panelists addressed critical questions related to how health care systems can adapt to these rising rates, the regulatory science required to support new clinical guidelines, and the formulation of effective policies.

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NCI-NIH-SELECTED SESSIONS

All NCI-NIH-selected sessions will be available for on-demand viewing on the virtual meeting platform beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT today. None of these sessions will be presented in person.

NIH01 – Enhancing FAIR Sharing and Reuse of Cancer Research Data

NIH05 – NCI Drug Development Resources and Grant Writing Strategies for New and Early-stage Investigators

NIH07 – Resources from the NCI-sponsored Human Tumor Atlas Network

NIH09 – NCI Funding Opportunities to Support Early-career Cancer Researchers

NIH11 – NCI Resources for Cancer Prevention and Interception Agent Discovery and Development