AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Cancer Evolution: The Dynamics of Progression and Persistence
In association with the Cancer Evolution Working Group
December 4-6, 2025
The Clyde Hotel
Albuquerque, New Mexico
CONFERENCE COCHAIRS
Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, University College London Cancer Institute, London, England
Kenneth J. Pienta, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Mara H. Sherman, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the AACR Special Conference on Cancer Evolution 2025 will convene global leaders in oncology, evolutionary biology, and data science to address one of the most dynamic and interdisciplinary frontiers in cancer research. This meeting will explore how evolutionary principles underlie cancer initiation, progression, treatment resistance, metastasis, and relapse. Spanning early tumorigenic events to computational modeling of evolutionary trajectories, the program integrates insights from somatic evolution, tumor-host interactions, metabolic adaptation, and the tumor microenvironment. The agenda features keynote addresses, eight plenary sessions, and contributed abstract presentations, including short talks from emerging investigators.
A unique feature of this meeting is its breadth—unifying evolutionary biology with clinical and translational oncology, and leveraging new technologies such as single-cell sequencing, phylogenetic modeling, and spatial transcriptomics. This convergence offers attendees a robust understanding of cancer as a dynamic evolutionary system and aims to inspire strategies for early detection and long-term disease control.
Please Note: All presentations at this event represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of the AACR or its members.
