The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced that its first-ever Virtual Annual Meeting attracted a vast worldwide audience, with more than 61,000 registrants from 140 countries. Held April 27 and 28, the 2-day meeting featured practice-changing clinical trials, innovative basic and translational research, and a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 and Cancer session with high-impact data from pandemic hot spots.
In response to the rapidly escalating COVID-19 pandemic, the AACR quickly reimagined its 2020 Annual Meeting, originally scheduled as an in-person meeting to be held in San Diego, April 24–29. In early April, the AACR Board of Directors announced plans for two Virtual Annual Meetings: the first was held in April and a second virtual meeting is planned for June 22–24, 2020.
Elaine Mardis, PhD, FAACR
“The AACR was deeply saddened to have to terminate the AACR Annual Meeting 2020, but safeguarding the health and safety of everyone who was planning to attend and the patients and communities they serve is always the organization’s highest priorities,” said Elaine Mardis, PhD, FAACR, AACR President.
The cutting-edge scientific program for the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting I focused on clinical trials so these important data could be released in a timely manner for maximum patient benefit. Research was presented in nine clinical plenary sessions, including a session on COVID-19 and Cancer; 10 minisymposia covering basic and translational cancer research; and three New Drugs on the Horizon symposia highlighting innovative small molecules and biologics that have recently entered phase I clinical trials.
