The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centers, brought together more than 1,000 oncology experts at the NCCN 2026 Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, with hundreds more attending virtually. This year’s event featured educational sessions on the latest advances in cancer prevention and treatment, updates on clinical guidelines, and guidance for improving cancer center operations, as well as panel discussions on important issues in care delivery.
We have much to gain by coming together to share ideas and best practices, make new connections, and build new collaborations. Conference attendees said they felt renewed energy and hope for the future after discussing how cancer treatment has advanced over the past year. This allows us all to better serve our patients and ensure they experience the best possible care and outcomes. ”
Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, NCCN CEO
New dimensions of cancer: Supporting young adults through continuum of treatment
The conference began with a plenary session examining the causes of the alarming increase in cancer incidence in people under 50 and how healthcare professionals should adapt to this new reality. Panel members agreed that several factors could be at play, including diet and lifestyle, microbiome, and environmental hazards.
Speakers noted that scheduling and financial harm are especially troublesome for young people who are embarking on the fight against cancer and are at different stages of their lives and careers. Some may have complex obligations due to having young children, while others may not yet be thinking about starting a family or may not be aware of how treatment may affect their fertility. Their experience of being in treatment can be isolating both from colleagues who lead very different lives and from fellow patients who are generally older.
Because these patients are expected to continue living for many years to come, it is especially important to consider the long-term side effects of treatment. At the same time, adolescents and young adults are often diagnosed at a later stage because they are younger than the screening age, their symptoms are less likely to be identified due to their rarity, and because they are more likely to have a genetic component. According to the panel, further education is needed within the medical community and beyond to better prepare survivors and the health care system to achieve optimal outcomes.
“All patients, especially early-onset adults, deserve a complete team to provide multidisciplinary, comprehensive care,” said panel moderator Christopher Liu, MD, PhD, of the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center and vice chair of the NCCN Board of Directors. “Adolescents and young adults with cancer have unique challenges and rely on support services to ensure a good quality of life throughout their treatment and for years to come.”
Speakers pointed to the NCCN Oncology Clinical Practice Guidelines for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) (NCCN Guidelines®) as a helpful resource on this topic.
Delivering cancer care around the world: Current status and future strategies
The second plenary session addressed cancer care around the world, focusing on the growing burden and new opportunities to address it. The committee noted that cancer incidence has increased dramatically and disproportionately, with the majority of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, only 5% of global cancer funding is spent in these regions.
Speakers emphasized that there are many opportunities to make a big difference with a strong return on investment. This includes strengthening prevention, such as access to HPV vaccination and screening, while standardizing treatments around the world. But there are also new challenges, such as funding cuts that hurt progress and siled efforts to reinvent the wheel. Staffing limitations and regional disparities in resources contribute to the burden.
“A well-conceived program can make an incredible difference in these settings,” said panelist Anu K. Agrawal, MD, vice president of global cancer support at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “Many people are very interested in helping. All we need is for them to pitch in. We must act quickly and support cancer policy with practical resources.”
Speakers praised the collaboration between the African Cancer Coalition, ACS, and NCCN in developing and maintaining an international adaptation of the NCCN Guidelines® for sub-Saharan Africa as an example of a successful program. The panel also introduced the NCCN Guidelines Middle East and North Africa (MENA) version, a joint effort with the National Guard Ministry of Health (Saudi Arabia). To learn more about these and other efforts, visit NCCN.org/global.
Superior operational capabilities in cancer treatment
New this year, NCCN offered an educational track for in-person participants on best practices for running oncology programs. This included sessions on addressing systemic and practical challenges to care, optimizing academic/community collaboration, artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and governance, and the role of guidelines in policy insights.
“Last year, the NCCN Guidelines were downloaded more than 18 million times, which shows that people want to do the right thing and provide the best care possible,” said Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, FASCO, MACP, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, member of the NCCN Best Practices Committee and Policy Advisory Group. “New advances are helping patients live longer, which is great news. But as they wait longer and the number of new cancer patients in the U.S. increases, the medical oncology workforce is more strained than ever. We need to make care more efficient by improving electronic health records (EHRs) and other technologies and reducing administrative burdens.”
new research etc.
The conference featured more than 300 unique research abstracts covering topics such as:
- best practices
- Bioinformatics/IT
- case study
- clinical oncology
- Correlation/Genome
- Epidemiology/Risk/Prevention
- result
- Preclinical oncology
- Quality improvement
- ongoing trial
In-person attendees had the opportunity to take expert-guided tours through posters on both days. Top abstracts on topics such as “Integrating Print-to-Web Outreach into Mammography Workflows to Advance Lung Cancer Screening: A Feasibility Study,” “Phase I Study of Safety and Immunogenicity of Survivin Long Peptide Vaccine (SurVaxM) in Patients with Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs),” and “Increasing Equitable Adherence to Annual Lung Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Surveillance: A Pragmatic Factorial Trial” were featured as talks during the live session. Past NCCN Foundation® Young Investigator Award recipients presented on topics such as “Evolutions toward precision oncology in osteosarcoma” and “Characterization of peripheral T cell repertoires in unresectable melanoma patients treated with IO102-IO103 and nivolumab-leratlimab.”
The poster included a summary by Taneal D. Carter, DHSc, MPA, MS, senior manager of the NCCN Cancer Care Equity Program. Through funding from the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care, we are working on a pilot project to utilize the Health Equity Report Card to assess and promote equitable practices in community health care settings.
Conference attendees learned about the latest clinical guidelines for gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, hematologic and skin cancers, as well as case studies in breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The sessions also featured information on topics such as toxicity management of immune checkpoint inhibitors, clinical applications, and emerging trends in AI technology.
Next year, the NCCN Annual Conference will be held in San Diego, California for the first time. Save the date: Friday, March 19, 2027 through Sunday, March 21, 2027.
sauce:
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
