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Media Registration Now Open: AACR Annual Meeting 2026, April 17-22 

January 14, 2026

SAN DIEGO – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will host its 117th Annual Meeting from April 17-22, 2026, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. The meeting will be presented in a hybrid format, allowing participants to attend in person or virtually. Registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 is complimentary for credentialed news media. 

The AACR Annual Meeting is the critical driver of progress against cancer, offering scientists, clinicians, other healthcare professionals, survivors, patients, and advocates an opportunity to gather, share, and discuss the latest advances in basic, translational, and clinical cancer research and cancer-related population sciences. With a theme this year of “Precision • Partnership • Purpose: Advancing Cancer Science to Save Lives Globally,” the meeting will highlight the work of the best minds in cancer science and medicine from institutions all over the world.

View the preliminary program online.  

MEDIA REGISTRATION 

Journalists may register to attend in person in San Diego or remotely through the virtual meeting platform. Journalists planning to cover the meeting must register through the AACR public relations team using the form linked below to receive the embargoed press program and other important communications. 

Journalists must provide official press credentials and bylined coverage to register as press. Before requesting registration, please review the full media registration requirements and embargo policies. 

Journalists can request registration by filling out this online form. Contact Kathleen Medora at [email protected] or 215-290-5408 with registration questions. 

HOUSING

To book an individual or group housing reservation, visit the Accommodations and Travel section on the AACR Annual Meeting website. The deadline for reserving a hotel room is Friday, March 6.  

For assistance, AACR Housing agents can be reached in the U.S. and Canada at 888-381-7166 or, for international callers, at 415-979-2262. Agents are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. ET.  

EMBARGO POLICY 

Individuals registered as press for the AACR Annual Meeting agree to abide by all embargoes. Please review the AACR’s embargo policy. 

Abstracts are embargoed until the AACR publishes the abstract in the AACR’s Online Itinerary Planner at the time embargoes lift. The abstract release schedule is as follows: 

  • Full regular abstracts – TITLES AND TEXT – will be published on March 17, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. ET. 
  • Late-breaking and clinical trials abstracts – TITLES ONLY (no text) – will be published on March 17, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. ET. 
  • Late-breaking and clinical trials abstracts – TEXT – will be published on April 17, 2026, at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET
  • Poster presentations will be available on the virtual meeting platform on April 17, 2026, at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET.

Abstracts selected for the official AACR Annual Meeting press program are embargoed until date and time of presentation during the Annual Meeting, either at an official AACR press conference or in a scientific session. Press program abstracts and press releases will be shared with registered reporters about a week in advance of the meeting and made publicly available once the embargo lifts. 

CONTACT

For more information on press operations at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026, visit our newsroom or contact a member of the AACR public relations team: