In addition to the Precancer Discovery Science Plenary Session on Saturday, April 9, and the Opening Plenary Session on Sunday, April 10, the Annual Meeting program includes four other plenary sessions covering some of the hottest topics, latest discoveries, and most recent advances in cancer research and treatment. Here’s a brief look at all four:

Decoding Cancer Health Disparities: Integration of Complex Data and Diversity to Achieve Equity
Monday, April 11 | 8 – 10 a.m. CDT | Hall B-C, Convention Center

“The last decades of cancer research have contributed unprecedented knowledge about the cancer landscape, resulting in improvements in cancer survival. However, not all cancers or populations have benefited equally from these advancements, which contributes to existing cancer health disparities that remain unaddressed,” said session chair Mariana C. Stern, PhD, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In this plenary, we will highlight novel approaches to integrate complex data to decode cancer disparities and discuss new approaches for patient engagement to increase representation of minority populations and/or rare cancers in cancer characterization efforts.”

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Precision Medicine for Immuno-Oncology and the Promise for the Future
Tuesday, April 12 | 8 – 10 a.m. CDT | Hall B-C, Convention Center

In this cutting-edge plenary chaired by Carl H. June, MD, FAACR, University of Pennsylvania, four experts will present the latest developments in the understanding of immunotherapy modalities, efficacy, and combination strategies. Topics such as T-cell reactivity in human cancer; stromal-immune interactions in health, inflammation, and immunotherapy; the impact of germline and microbiome variants on immunotherapy efficacy through modulation of myeloid cells; and tumor intrinsic features of immunotherapeutic response to PD-1 blockade will be discussed.

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Tumor Evolution and Therapeutic Resistance
Wednesday, April 13 | 8 – 10 a.m. CDT | Hall B-C, Convention Center

“Therapeutic resistance continues to be a major barrier in treating cancer,” said session chair Anna D. Barker, PhD, FAACR, Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine at USC. “Cancer exhibits a wide range of resistance mechanisms, from preexisting resistant cells to cells that evolve in real time in response to treatment. We may eliminate one mechanism, but cancer is a master of evolution. We are beginning to understand that there are unusual mechanisms of evolution that may be unique to cancer, primarily due to the rapidity with which they can occur. Cancer evolution is important in nearly all aspects of cancer research, and the speakers in this plenary session will review our current understanding of tumor evolution and resistance overall, and in the context of specific cancers.”

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AACR Annual Meeting 2022 Highlights: Vision for the Future
Wednesday, April 13 | 12 – 1:25 p.m. CDT | Hall B-C, Convention Center

“Developed by an international team of cancer researchers, the 2022 scientific program encompasses the latest discoveries in basic and translational research, emerging breakthroughs in prevention and early detection, and important advances in population sciences and disparities research from around the globe,” said AACR Annual Meeting 2022 Program Committee Chair Marcia R. Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, who will chair the session. “In this final plenary session of the meeting, I will be joined by members of the program committee to talk about some of the hottest topics and most impactful information across the spectrum of research presented at the Annual Meeting, and how the discoveries we celebrate today will shape the future of cancer research.”

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