AACR 2027 Annual Meeting: Dates, Science Themes & a Spring Planner for Oncology Teams
Spring is when oncology teams set their agenda for the year: which mechanisms and biomarker strategies to back, which partners to pursue and, for diagnostics and tools companies, where the next programmes will come from.
The AACR Annual Meeting 2027, in Orlando this April, is the largest cancer research meeting of the spring, and many oncology teams plan their first half around it.
This guide covers the immuno-oncology and biomarker themes worth planning around in spring 2027, how translational, BD and vendor teams can prepare for a very large research meeting, and how it fits alongside focused summits before and after it.
Key takeaways
- The big meeting runs 2–7 April 2027 in Orlando. Regular abstracts are due on 10 November 2026, so programme decisions need to be made this autumn.
- Six science themes are worth planning around: ADCs and IO combinations, cell therapy in solid tumours, cancer vaccines, ctDNA and MRD, spatial and AI pathology, and resistance biology.
- Each theme comes with a clear biomarker question, and that question is where diagnostics, CRO and platform companies have something to offer.
- A large meeting rewards preparation: written objectives, an abstract shortlist, meetings booked in advance and follow-up within a fortnight.
- Focused summits work well alongside it: ImmunoMark San Diego (10–11 February) and London (3–4 March) come before it, and Boston (June 2027) follows.
When and where: the 2027 meeting at a glance
The AACR Annual Meeting 2027 takes place from 2 to 7 April 2027 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Regular abstracts close on 10 November 2026, early registration ends on 7 December 2026 and late-breaking and clinical trial abstracts are due on 6 January 2027. Last year’s meeting, AACR 2026, was held in San Diego from 17 to 22 April 2026.
For the wider picture, our oncology conferences 2027 calendar lists the main cancer meetings month by month, and our biotech conferences guide covers the broader industry calendar.
Six IO and biomarker themes to plan around in spring 2027
Large research meetings cover all of cancer biology, so arrive with a short list of themes and, for each, the biomarker question your team needs answered.
| Theme | Why it matters now | Biomarker question to take with you |
| ADCs and IO combinations | ADC plus checkpoint regimens are now standard of care in some settings | Does target expression predict benefit, and how should it be scored? |
| Cell therapy in solid tumours | TIL and TCR-T products are approved; logic-gated and in vivo approaches are in the clinic | Antigen and HLA selection, persistence and on-target, off-tumour risk |
| Cancer vaccines | A first randomised phase 3 readout for an individualised neoantigen therapy | Neoantigen prediction, sequencing turnaround and early response markers |
| ctDNA and MRD | Moving from prognosis to trial enrichment and early efficacy readouts | Assay sensitivity, sampling schedules and endpoint acceptability |
| Spatial and AI pathology | Moving from discovery tools to candidate patient-selection assays | Analytical validation, scanner and stain variability, regulatory route |
| Resistance biology | Many patients still do not respond to, or relapse on, checkpoint inhibitors | Which mechanisms (myeloid, antigen loss, HLA loss) can be measured routinely? |
1. ADCs and IO combinations
The case for ADC plus checkpoint combinations is no longer theoretical. The FDA approved enfortumab vedotin with pembrolizumab for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer in December 2023, based on the phase 3 EV-302 trial (median overall survival 31.5 months versus 16.1 months with chemotherapy). In June 2025, datopotamab deruxtecan received accelerated approval in previously treated EGFR-mutated NSCLC, the first TROP2-directed therapy approved in lung cancer.
The open questions are now about patient selection and safety. Does target expression predict benefit, or does the payload’s bystander effect make it irrelevant? Is a continuous, quantitative IHC score better than a simple positive/negative cut-off? And how do overlapping toxicities, such as interstitial lung disease, shape combination dosing? Our article on ADC and immunotherapy patient selection covers these questions in more detail.
2. Cell therapy in solid tumours
Solid tumour cell therapy has reached the clinic. Lifileucel received FDA accelerated approval in February 2024 as the first tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, for advanced melanoma. Afamitresgene autoleucel followed in August 2024 for synovial sarcoma. It is only given to patients whose tumours express MAGE-A4 and who carry a qualifying HLA type, so the biomarker test effectively decides who is treated.
The next wave tackles antigen heterogeneity and access, with logic-gated CARs and in vivo engineering (see our in vivo CAR-T overview). For each one, ask how target expression, persistence and safety will be measured in patients.
3. Cancer vaccines
Individualised neoantigen therapy is heading towards regulators. On 19 August 2026, Merck and Moderna announced that the phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial of intismeran autogene plus pembrolizumab in resected high-risk melanoma met its recurrence-free and distant metastasis-free survival endpoints at an interim analysis. Detailed results have not been published yet.
For biomarker teams, the work is upstream and downstream of the drug. Upstream: tumour and germline sequencing, neoantigen prediction and turnaround time. Downstream: early signs of immune response and recurrence.
4. ctDNA and MRD
Circulating tumour DNA is moving from a prognostic marker to a working part of trial design. It is used to enrich adjuvant trials for patients with molecular residual disease and to read out early on-treatment response. Questions to take with you: tumour-informed or tumour-agnostic? What sampling schedule? How do regulators view ctDNA clearance as an endpoint? Our guide to ctDNA and MRD in immunotherapy trials sets out the current evidence.
5. Spatial and AI pathology
Spatial biology and computational pathology are moving from describing the tumour microenvironment to proposing patient-selection assays. The bar for that step is high: analytical validation across sites, scanners and staining protocols, a locked algorithm and a credible regulatory route. When you read spatial or AI abstracts, separate discovery findings from work that is heading towards a deployable assay. Our comparison of spatial proteomics and spatial transcriptomics is a useful starting point.
6. Resistance biology
Many patients still do not respond to checkpoint inhibitors, or eventually relapse. Suppressive myeloid populations, loss of antigen presentation, HLA loss and exclusionary stroma all attract new targets every year. The practical test is whether a mechanism can be measured routinely in trial samples. If it cannot, it will be hard to use for patient selection, however strong the biology.
How to prepare for a large spring research meeting
With well over 20,000 attendees at recent editions and thousands of posters, a meeting this size does not reward improvisation. The basics apply to every team, but each function needs a different plan.
Set two or three written objectives
Write them down before travel is booked. For example: “Shortlist three spatial biomarker approaches for our NSCLC programme”, “Hold six partnering conversations on ADC biomarker strategy” or “Generate ten qualified assay-development leads”.
Scan abstracts and posters early
Abstracts are usually published online before the meeting. Split the scanning by theme across the team, tag each abstract as “must see”, “contact author” or “monitor”, and plan poster sessions as a route, not a wander.
Book meetings before you travel
Calendars fill up weeks ahead. BD and vendor teams should send meeting requests three to four weeks out and attach a specific reason drawn from the abstract scan, such as a shared target, assay or indication.
Follow up within two weeks
Interest fades quickly after a large meeting. Agree the next step before you leave each conversation, log it the same day and send follow-ups within ten working days. That might be a data package, a CDA or a technical call.
| Team | Main objective | Key preparation |
| Translational and biomarker | Update the evidence behind programme decisions | Theme-based abstract shortlist; author contacts |
| BD and licensing | Advance partnering and asset conversations | Target list mapped to abstracts; meetings booked early |
| Diagnostics, CRO and tools vendors | Find programmes that need their assay or service | Abstracts flagged by unmet biomarker need; specific outreach |
How a large spring meeting fits around focused summits
A very large meeting gives you breadth: the newest data and much of the field in one place. Focused summits do a different job: with a few hundred senior people in one discipline, conversations are longer and more technical, and booked meetings actually happen. Most oncology teams use both.
| When | Meeting | Best use |
| 10–11 Feb 2027 | ImmunoMark Summit San Diego | Set the year’s IO and biomarker agenda; pre-arranged 1:1 meetings with West Coast pharma and biotech |
| 3–4 Mar 2027 | ImmunoMark Summit London | European perspective on CDx, regulation and translational partnering |
| 2–7 Apr 2027 | Large spring cancer research meeting, Orlando | Breadth of new data; abstract and poster scanning; volume of meetings |
| June 2027 | ImmunoMark Summit Boston | Follow up on spring conversations with the East Coast IO and diagnostics community |
Before: San Diego and London
The two early-year ImmunoMark editions let teams test their hypotheses before the April abstract flood. In San Diego, sessions include “Challenges of Efficacy and Safety when Combining Immuno-Oncology Agents with ADCs” (Rakesh Dixit, Co-founder, President and CSO, Regio Biosciences) and “The Growing Role of Liquid Biopsy and Minimal Residual Disease Monitoring in Personalized Cancer Care” (Hadly Clark, Director, FasterCures, Milken Institute), along with a panel on “How AI-Driven Digital Pathology is Transforming Biomarker Discovery and Precision Medicine”. In London, John Bridgeman (Chief Scientific Officer, ImmunoKey Ltd) presents “CARKey: A multi-antigen specific logic-gated CAR T platform designed to overcome antigen heterogeneity in solid tumours”, and Ali Roghanian (Associate Professor, University of Southampton) covers “Therapeutic Targeting of Human LILRBs: A Novel Class of Myeloid Checkpoint Inhibitors”.
After: Boston
By June, the spring’s data will have been presented and digested. ImmunoMark Boston in June 2027 is the place to turn April conversations into partnerships, with pre-arranged 1:1 meetings across both streams. Sponsors can see our cancer immunology conference sponsorship page for how to meet that audience in Boston and across the series.
FAQs
When and where is AACR 2027?
The AACR Annual Meeting 2027 runs from 2 to 7 April 2027 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Regular abstracts are due on 10 November 2026.
Which IO and biomarker themes should oncology teams plan around in spring 2027?
Six themes stand out: ADC and checkpoint combinations, cell therapy in solid tumours, individualised cancer vaccines, ctDNA and MRD in trial design, spatial and AI pathology, and resistance biology. Each one raises a patient-selection or monitoring question that biomarker teams need to answer.
How should diagnostics and tools companies prepare for a large spring cancer research meeting?
Set two or three written objectives, scan abstracts early to find programmes with an unmet biomarker need, book meetings three to four weeks in advance with a specific reason, and follow up within ten working days.
Which focused immuno-oncology and biomarker summits run in the first half of 2027?
ImmunoMark Summit runs in San Diego on 10–11 February 2027, in London on 3–4 March 2027 and in Boston in June 2027. Each edition has two parallel streams, Next-Gen Immuno-Oncology and Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics, plus pre-arranged 1:1 meetings.
Plan your spring: ImmunoMark London and Boston
ImmunoMark Summit brings senior pharma, biotech and diagnostics leaders together around two parallel streams: Next-Gen Immuno-Oncology and Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics. Formats include keynotes, panels, case studies, pre-arranged 1:1 meetings and a Day 1 drinks reception. The London 2026 edition drew 300+ attendees from 100+ companies, 70% of them senior decision-makers, and sponsors held 15–25 meetings each.
- ImmunoMark Summit London, the immuno-oncology and CDx conference in London, 3–4 March 2027 (400+ target attendees): register for London or see London sponsorship opportunities
- ImmunoMark Summit Boston, the immuno-oncology conference in Boston, June 2027 (300+ attendees): register for Boston or see Boston sponsorship opportunities
If your company wants to meet this audience before and after the spring’s biggest research meeting, see sponsorship in London and sponsorship in Boston, or browse the oncology conference sponsorship options across the series.
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