We’ve reached the halfway point of the AACR Annual Meeting, and there is still so much left to explore! Today’s program showcases advances in artificial intelligence (AI), provides opportunities to hear from distinguished scientific leaders, highlights potentially practice-changing clinical trial results, and much, much more.

To start the day, head to the Plenary Session “AI Revolution in Cancer Research” at 8 a.m. PT to learn how leading researchers are harnessing AI to accelerate progress against cancer. AI is poised to transform both cancer research and patient care, so we—and the rest of the Program Committee—felt strongly about covering this topic in the plenary program. This forward-looking session will discuss the tremendous progress made in recent years and the exciting developments in store.

Today’s schedule also includes the “Presidential Select Symposium: Targeting Stage 0: Precision-Based Prevention,” which will top off the 2025-2026 AACR Presidency of Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR. The session, organized by Siu, will be held at 10:15 a.m. PT and features four speakers who will focus on using highly precise strategies to prevent cancer before it begins. In an event immediately following this symposium, Siu’s term as AACR President will conclude as AACR President-Elect Keith T. Flaherty, MD, FAACR, assumes the role.

For insights into the current and future priorities of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), don’t miss this afternoon’s address by NCI Director Anthony G. Letai, MD, PhD, FAACR, followed by a fireside chat among Letai, Siu, and Flaherty. During this highly anticipated event, which begins at 2:30 p.m. PT, Letai will share his vision and scientific priorities for the agency.

During the third Clinical Trials Plenary Session, to be held at 10:15 a.m. PT, presenters will report impactful data from clinical trials evaluating cellular therapies and complex immunotherapies, and the final New Drugs on the Horizon session, also at 10:15 a.m. PT, will feature the first disclosures of four investigational agents.

Several sessions today will examine rapidly evolving therapeutic approaches, including:

• the Major Symposium RAS Inhibitors, Mechanisms of Resistance, and Drug Combinations;
• the Major Symposium DNA Damage Response and Synthetic Lethality in Cancer;
• the Major Symposium Cancer Vaccines: The Next Immunotherapy Breakthrough?; and
• the Advances in Technologies Session Dharma Master Jiantai Symposium in Biomarkers: Next-Gen Tools for ADCs—Defining Biomarkers of Response through Technological Innovation.

Make sure to stop by the Exhibit Hall for today’s Poster Sessions—the first from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT and the second from 2 to 5 p.m. PT—to learn about exciting research advances on a wide range of topics.

The afternoon features two Special Sessions hosted in collaboration with other cancer organizations: the Japanese Cancer Association (JCA) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The AACR-JCA Joint Session: Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers will be held at 2:30 p.m. PT and will address the molecular underpinnings of lung cancer development in individuals who have never smoked and explore considerations for treating these lung cancers. The AACR-ASCO Joint Session: Next Generation of CAR T-Cell Therapies will be at 4:45 p.m. PT and will examine emerging strategies to improve CAR T-cell therapies for hematologic malignancies and expand their use to solid tumors.

At 5 p.m. PT, another Special Session highlights pioneering work by Cancer Grand Challenges teams addressing fundamental questions of how cancer develops and evolves into a whole-body disease. With presentations from Cancer Grand Challenges awardees, the session offers a great opportunity to hear about recent breakthrough discoveries that challenge traditional models of tumor initiation and highlight emerging priorities for prevention, early detection, and intervention.

The afternoon and evening also feature lectures from the following award recipients:

• Ahmedin M. Jemal, DVM, PhD, recipient of the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship, will speak at 3 p.m. PT.
• Housheng Hansen He, PhD, recipient of the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research, will speak at 4:15 p.m. PT.
• Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR, recipient of the AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research, will speak at 4:15 p.m. PT.
• Luis A. Diaz Jr., MD, FAACR, recipient of the AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research, will speak at 5 p.m. PT.
• Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, FAACR, recipient of the AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research, will speak at 5 p.m. PT.
• Cheryl H. Arrowsmith, PhD, recipient of the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, will speak at 5:15 p.m. PT.
• Andrew P. Feinberg, MD, MPH, recipient of the AACR-G.H.A. Clowes Award for Outstanding Basic Cancer Research, will speak at 5:30 p.m. PT.

At 5 p.m. PT is Part 1 of the Meet-the-Expert Sessions, with presentations from A. John Iafrate, MD, PhD, and Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD, FAACR, who are leaders in molecular diagnostics and gastric cancer biology, respectively. These sessions will offer attendees a special opportunity to hear about these esteemed researchers’ inspiring scientific journeys and even meet with them afterwards.

Plus, two Forums will be held at 5 p.m. PT: one on advancing drug discovery and development in an AI world, and the other on navigating change and maintaining impact in community outreach and engagement.

Other scientific sessions of interest include:

• the Major Symposium AACR-Bayard D. Clarkson Symposium on Plasticity and Cancer Progression: Mechanisms and Consequences;
• the Major Symposium Clonal Hematopoiesis: Aging and Drivers of Blood Cancer and Solid Tumors;
• the Major Symposium Stress Across Scales in Cancer: From Societal Burden to Microenvironmental and Cellular Mechanisms;
• the Advances in Organ Site Research Session Advances in Glioblastoma Research and Experimental Therapies;
• the Advances in Diagnostics and Therapeutics Session El Camino de la Pediatría: Finding Our Way Through the Chasm of Pediatric Oncology Drug Development; and
• the Advances in Technologies Session Using AI and Spatial Transcriptomics Data to Predict Spatial Gene Expression from Histopathology Slides, among many others.

The evening includes a Town Meeting jointly hosted by the AACR Chemistry in Cancer Research and Hematologic Malignancies Working Groups and another Town Meeting jointly hosted by the AACR Cancer Immunology and Cancer Prevention Working Groups. Both Town Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. PT.

There are so many great options to pick from today, and we hope you take full advantage of all today’s program has to offer. See you tomorrow morning for the Plenary Session “Early-Onset Cancers”!

For the most up-to-date program information, visit the AACR Annual Meeting App or Online Itinerary Planner.

More from the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 »

View a photo gallery of scenes from San Diego, join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AACR26, and read more coverage in AACR Annual Meeting News and on Cancer Research Catalyst, the official blog of the AACR.