AACR Annual Meeting 2024 Overview: Inspiring Science | Fueling Progress | Revolutionizing Care

A global conference in San Diego brings together thousands of cancer researchers, physician-scientists, patient advocates, policymakers, and others to accelerate progress against cancer. 

The American Association for Cancer Research will hold its 2024 Annual Meeting in San Diego from April 5 to 10, 2024. The massive program will feature thousands of experts from across the continuum of cancer science and care and delve into the latest developments in the field. 

“The meeting now spans everything from the earliest scientific discoveries regarding cancer initiation, how we think about early diagnosis and interception all the way through to therapeutic advances,” said Keith T. Flaherty, MD, FAACR, a Program Committee Chair.

“What’s incredibly exciting is how we’re seeing data science, as well as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and new technologies, really advance the insights that we can make from patient samples in the context of clinical trials as well as model systems to really move the biology forward and unearth new therapeutic approaches,” said Christina Curtis, PhD, MSC, a Program Committee Chair. “This meeting brings the full spectrum of cancer research together.” 

The meeting features six plenary sessions, more than 50 major symposia, over two dozen topic tracks ranging from cell biology, bioinformatics, and drug development to cancer disparities, pediatric cancer, clinical trials, survivorship, and more. It will feature a record number of abstracts, more than 7,100. Record-breaking attendance is expected this year.

“This is the premier educational meeting on this topic that covers the whole gamut of the field,” added Dr. Curtis. “I’ve already surveyed various topics that I’m excited to learn more about, that aren’t in my everyday domain.”

Over 200 sessions are designated for continuing medical education (CME) credits.

“The real magic of the meeting is to provide a format and opportunity where people can begin to expose themselves to emerging areas in which they are not currently deeply expert,” Dr. Flaherty added.

With the vast array of sessions and opportunities to develop collaborations with colleagues in different disciplines, the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 is the must-attend scientific event for the cancer community. 

“The meeting is a forum for people to sample broadly and also to see connections to their own research that they wouldn’t have recognized otherwise,” said Dr. Curtis. “One of the areas that I’m really excited about is the discussion around using real-world data to accelerate evidence generation. I think this is an opportunity to really accelerate the pace at which research makes it back to patients in the clinic.”