It is my privilege to welcome you to the AACR Annual Meeting 2025 in wonderful Chicago. The AACR Annual Meeting is the pinnacle event of breakthroughs in cancer research, and this year, we have more than 21,000 registered attendees from around the world—a testament to the importance of the AACR Annual Meeting to the cancer research community.

The theme of this year’s scientific program reminds us of our purpose for these six days and beyond: “Unifying Cancer Science and Medicine: A Continuum of Innovation for Impact.” Moving science forward and improving patients’ lives through research and education are at the heart of the Annual Meeting and are central to AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers.

I am grateful to our esteemed AACR President, Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), FAACR; our AACR Annual Meeting Committees; and our dedicated program chairs, Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, and AACR President-Elect Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR, for their tireless efforts to put together an outstanding scientific program.

This year’s meeting promises to showcase groundbreaking research and education that will have immediate and future impact on cancer care.

• Six Plenary Sessions will highlight cutting-edge advances in cancer research, emphasizing transformative scientific discoveries and innovative technologies (including the Opening Plenary on Sunday, April 27, and a closing Plenary Session featuring key meeting takeaways on Wednesday, April 30).
• Seven types of “Advances” Sessions will present the latest research in areas such as early detection, prevention, new technologies, and therapeutics.
• Four Clinical Trial Plenary Sessions will report novel clinical research as well as the science behind the trials that offers significant clinical benefit to patients.
• More than 7,000 proffered abstracts will be presented.
• Seven Forums and eight Special Sessions will discuss topics such as bringing science to the clinic, fostering effective science communication, and cell-based immunotherapies.
• Countless opportunities for networking and professional development will be available. 

All Annual Meeting scientific sessions, including the Educational Program via the Educational Program Pass, will be live-streamed on the virtual meeting platform, and in-person and virtual attendees are encouraged to submit questions to the speakers using the platform or the meeting app. If you miss a session and wish to view it again, recordings will be available on our virtual meeting platform for six months after the meeting.

There are many ways to plan your Annual Meeting experience.

• The Online Itinerary Planner provides fully searchable access to the full text of all proffered abstracts.
• The AACR Annual Meeting App contains the full text of all proffered abstracts and is available for iPhones and iPads, Android devices, and other web-enabled smartphones. Once downloaded, the app allows access to the full text of all proffered abstracts without an internet connection. Users can also search, browse, and select sessions to create their personal itineraries in the app.
• All proffered abstracts—including regular, late-breaking, and clinical trial abstracts—are now available as an online-only supplement to the AACR journal Cancer Research.

We hope you will enjoy reading all the great coverage of our meeting in AACR Annual Meeting News. We look forward to seeing you over the next few days!

Follow Along with the AACR Annual Meeting 2025

Keep up with the latest from the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, whether you are attending in person or virtually. Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AACR25 and read more coverage of upcoming sessions in AACR Annual Meeting News.