AACR Annual Meeting 2024

This year marks the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 115^th meeting. The annual event brings together the best minds in cancer research from across the globe to share the latest in cancer science and medicine. AACR 2024 takes place in-person April 5–10, 2024, in San Diego with a virtual attendance option. Presentations will span a wide variety of topics, from cancer biology, translational and clinical studies to population science and prevention, survivorship and patient advocacy.

Leaders from the Mass General Cancer Center are honored to join their international colleagues and present their latest research and clinical advancements at the meeting. 

Saturday, April 6

Updates in the Next-Generation CAR Designs

Session ED20 - Oral Presentation
3:00 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. in Ballroom 20 CD - Upper Level - Convention Center
Marcela Maus, MD, PhD

Sunday, April 7

Opening Plenary Session: Inspiring Science, Fueling Progress, Revolutionizing Care

Session PL02 - Chair
9:30 a.m. – 9:35 a.m. in Hall GH - Ground Level - Convention Center
Keith Flaherty, MD

Incorporation of Multisector Analysis Into the Design of Personalized DNA Vaccines for Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma

Session PO.CL06.05 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 47
Gavin Dunn, MD, PhD

Increased Immunotherapy Sensitivity Associated With Damaging IFN-Gamma Pathway Mutations in NSCLC

Session PO.CL06.05 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 47
Justin Gainor, MD

Improving CAR-T Cell Efficacy in Pancreatic Cancer Using an In Vivo CRISPR Cas9 Screen

Session PO.IM01.14 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 2
Tamina Kienka; Felix Korell, MD; Debattama Sen, PhD; Marcela Maus, MD, PhD

The Idylla™ IDH1-2 Mutation Assay Kit: A Tool for Mutation Detection in IDH1 and IDH2 Genes

Session PO.ET06.01 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 23
Jochen K. Lennerz, MD, PhD

Monday, April 8

Profiling of Protein Interactome With Cysteine-reactive Libraries Led to the Discovery of EML4ALK Dimerizers

Session PO.ET09.07 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 25
D. Yang; S. Harry; Elizabeth Codd; Stefan T. Kaluziak; A. D. Carlin; E. Zhang; Z. Oppong-Holmes; W. Yang; A. Smith; D. Mitchell; M. Hara; S. Zhang; Maristela Onozato, MD, PhD; Liron Bar-Peled, PhD; Anthony Iafrate, MD, PhD

Locoregional Delivery With Engineered Stem Cells Modulates Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment in Brain Leptomeningeal Metastasis

Session PO.IM01.05 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 5
Hiroaki Wakimoto, MD, PhD

Targeting Immune Suppressive Myeloid Cells in Prostate Cancer Recurrence and Metastasis

Session PO.IM02.03 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 4
Shenglin Mei, PhD; H. Zhang; Taghreed Hirz, PhD; N. E. Jeffries; Shulin Wu, MD, PhD; Chin-Lee Wu, MD, PhD; Douglas M. Dahl, MD; Philip Saylor, MD; David B. Sykes, MD, PhD

Chromatin Remodeler ACTL6A in CD8+ T Cells Promotes Antitumor Immunity

Session PO.TB11.07 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 9
Bogang Wu, PhD; Win Thant, BS; Elena Bitman, BS; Ting Liu, MD; Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD

Advances in Targeted Therapy

Session CTPL03 - Chair
10:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. in Ballroom 20 AB - Upper Level - Convention Center
Ryan Corcoran, MD, PhD

Cancer Vaccines and Understanding and Promoting Immunogenicity

Session SY01 - Other
10:45 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. in Hall GH - Ground Level - Convention Center
Nir Hacohen, PhD

KRYSTAL-1: Pooled Phase 1/2 Efficacy and Safety of Adagrasib (MRTX849) in Combination With Cetuximab in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Harboring a KRASG12C Mutation

Session CTPL03 - Other
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. in Ballroom 20 AB - Upper Level - Convention Center
Sam Klempner, MD

TEAMS of CAR-T Cells in Cancer

Session SY43 - Chair
12:30 p.m. – 12:55 p.m. in Hall GH - Ground Level - Convention Center
Marcela Maus, MD, PhD

Customized Liquid Biopsy Assay for Monitoring EWSR1 Fusions in Sarcomas

Session PO.CL01.19 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 41
A. Li; J. C. Thierauf; B. Gonda; R. Purohit; Stefan T. Kaluziak; Elizabeth Codd; S. N. Dybel; Edwin Choy, MD, PhD; Gregory Cote, MD, PhD; Jochen K. Lennerz, MD, PhD; Anthony Iafrate, MD, PhD

APOBEC3A Drives Tumor Evolution Through Activation of ERVs in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

Session PO.ET03.02 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 26
Hideko Isozaki, PhD; Ramin Sakhtemani; Naveed Nikpour; Susanna Monroe; Michael Lawrence, PhD; Aaron Hata, MD, PhD

The Tumor Suppressive Role of Methylthioadenosine Phosphorylase in Melanoma

Session PO.MCB11.01 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 17
David Fisher, MD, PhD; Jennifer Hsiao, PhD; Pedro Andreu-Perez, PhD

Minisymposium: Late-Breaking Research

Session LBMS01 - Chair
2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. in Room 16 - Mezzanine Level - Convention Center
Priscilla Brastianos, MD

Understanding Spatial Organization of Cellular Plasticity in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Session MS.BCS01.01 - Oral Presentation
2:50 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. in Ballroom 20 AB - Upper Level - Convention Center
Bidish K. Patel, MD; Carina Shiau, BS; William Hwang, MD, PhD; Nir Hacohen, PhD; David T. Ting, MD; Arnav Mehta, MD

TOP1 Mutations Mediate Cross Resistance to ADCs in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Session MS.CL10.01 - Oral Presentation
3:05 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. in Ballroom 6 CF - Upper Level - Convention Center
Rachel Occhiogrosso Abelman, MD; H. Barnes; Arielle Medford, MD; Annika Putur; Bogang Wu, PhD; Laura Spring, MD; Seth Wander, MD, PhD; Beverly Moy, MD, MPH; Andreas Varkaris, MD, PhD; Dejan Juric, MD; Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD; Ryan B. Corcoran, MD, PhD; Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH

Therapy-associated Remodeling of Pancreatic Cancer Revealed by Single-Cell Spatial Transcriptomics and Optimal Transport Analysis

Session MS.BCS01.01 - Oral Presentation
4:05 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. in Ballroom 20 AB - Upper Level - Convention Center
Carina Shiau, BS; Dennis Gong; Elizabeth (Xunqin) Yin, MD, PhD; Peter L. Wang, PhD; Jennifer Su, BS; Jimmy Guo; Nicole Lester; Jung Woo Bae; Ryan Zhao; William Hwang, MD, PhD

Tuesday, April 9

Analysis of Biomarker and Outcomes Data: 7-year Update From COLUMBUS

Session PO.CL01.11 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 45
Keith Flaherty, MD

Spatial Single-Cell Deconvolution of the Bone Marrow Microenvironment to Define Predictive Biomarker for Response to Immunotherapy in Patients Treated With a Check Point Inhibitor in Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, Phase II Trial of Nivolumab in Combination With Lenalidomide and Low Dose Dexamethasone

Session PO.CL01.11 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 45
Gad Getz, PhD

TREM2 Is a Radiation-induced Target for Immunomodulation of Tumor-associated Macrophages in the Prostate Cancer Tumor Microenvironment

Session PO.CL06.06 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 39
Ariel Marciscano, MD

Class I HLA-independent Lysis of Cancer Cells By Tumor-infiltrating CD8 T Cells

Session PO.IM02.01 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 1
Hongyan Xie, PhD; A. Jiang; J. Perera; A. Dey; N. Smith; Moshe Sade-Feldman, PhD; Robert Manguso, PhD; Nir Hacohen, PhD; Russell Jenkins, MD, PhD

Deep Spatial Immunophenotyping of Lymphoid Aggregates in Pancreatic Cancer Using Multi-omic Integration of Ultra High-plex Proteomics and Transcriptomics

Session PO.IM02.01 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 1
Carina Shiau, BS; Jennifer Su, BS; William Hwang, MD, PhD; Peter L. Wang, PhD

The ITGA2 (CD49b) Collagen Receptor Excludes the CD8+ T Cell Infiltration in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Session PO.TB11.03 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 12
Ibrahim Eissa, PhD; E. D. Abston; Darshini Kuruppu; Y. Wang; Guoliang Qiao; Motaz Qadan, MD, PhD; Michael Lanuti, MD; Kenneth Tanabe, MD

Biomarkers: Quantifying Pharmacodynamic Modulation

Session CTPL04 - Co-Chair
10:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. in Hall GH - Ground Level - Convention Center
Ryan Sullivan, MD

Enhancing CAR T Cell-based Immunotherapy Outcomes in PDAC: Evaluating iC9.B7-H3 CAR T Cells in Adjuvant, Neoadjuvant, and Monotherapy Settings

Session PO.CL06.02 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 40
S. Arya; S. Sanatkar; Marco Ventin, MD; G. Cattaneo; C. Martin; G. Lionetto; J. Jia; F. Chen; David Ting, MD; X. Wang; S. Ferrone

Developing a Lenalidomide-inducible Safety Switch for CAR T Cell Therapy

Session PO.CL06.02 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 40
Ditsa Sarkar, PhD; William Lin; Joanna Kim; I. C. Lane; Tamina Kienka; Michael Kann; A. A. Bouffard; Marcela Maus, MD, PhD; Max Jan, MD

Treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma Using Humanized Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Claudin-1

Session PO.ET01.05 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 27
Nabeel M. Bardeesy, PhD

Systematic Identification of Pathways Associated With Antibody Drug Conjugate Sensitivity in Breast Cancer

Session PO.ET03.03 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 24
Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH; Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD; Bogang Wu, PhD; S. Sun; Nayana Thimmiah, BS; Aiko Nagayama; James T. Coates; Ting Liu, MD; Win Thant, BS; Elena Bitman, BS; D. Li

Non-Genetic Determinants Driving the Evolutional Trajectories of Drug-Tolerant-Persisters in KRAS Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Session PO.ET03.07 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 23
C. Li; Q. Qin; Anahita Nimbalkar, BS; U. Syed; Barbara Karakyriakou; S. Clark; Luca Pinello, PhD; Aaron Hata, MD, PhD

Multiomics Analysis Unravels Tumor Metabolic Reprogramming and Potential Resistance Mechanism(s) to Curative Therapy in TNBC

Session PO.ET03.07 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 23
Zuen Ren, PhD; Robert Morris; Eric Zaniewski; Johannes Kreuzer, PhD; G. Elena Gioia; Veerle Bossuyt, MD; Brian Dontchos, MD; Gary Wang, MD, PhD; Shinn-Huey Chou, MD, MPH; Laura Spring, MD; Wilhelm Haas, PhD; Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD

Androgen Receptor Blockade in Macrophages Primes NLRP3 Inflammasome-mediated Phagocytosis and Tumor Clearance in Advanced Prostate Cancer

Session PO.IM01.07 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 2
Shenglin Mei, PhD; Taghreed Hirz, PhD; David Sykes, MD, PhD

Rapid On-Site Nucleic Acid Detection Using CRISPR and Digital Signal Processing for Portable and Integrated Cervical Cancer Screening in Low Resource Settings

Session PO.PR01.06 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 31
C. Lee; H. Kim; H. Lee; Thomas Randall, MD; A. Ly; Hahko Lee, PhD; Cesar Castro, MD

Spatial Organization and Cellular Composition of Immunity Hubs in Human Colorectal Cancer

Session PO.TB11.14 - Poster
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Section 10
Maxwell Spurrell

Novel Approaches for Targeted Therapies

Session MS.CL08.01 - Chair
2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. in Ballroom 6 A - Upper Level - Convention Center
Aaron Hata, MD, PhD

Wednesday, April 10

SpatialCells: Automated Profiling of Tumor Microenvironments With Spatially Resolved Multiplexed Single-Cell Data

Session PO.BCS01.13 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 35
Guihong Wan; Boshen Yan; Sara Khattab; Crystal Chang, MPH; Yevgeniy Semenov, MD, MA

Human LINE-1 ORF1p Retrotransposition Independent Function in Pancreatic Cancer

Session PO.CL06.03 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 40
Eunae You, PhD; Bidish Patel, MD; Alexandra Rojas; Natalie Ho; Michael Raabe; Yuhui Song; Ildiko Phillips; Katherine Xu; Peter Maxwell Richieri; Linda Nieman, PhD; David Ting, MD

Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus Expressing XCL1 and FLT3L Modulate the Intratumoral Immune Response and Improve the Anti-Tumor Efficacy in a Metastatic Breast Tumor Model

Session PO.IM01.10 - Poster
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Section 1
Liqun Gu; Sylvie Roberge; Heena Kumra; Yves Boucher, PhD

AACR Annual Meeting 2024 Highlights: Vision for the Future

Session PL06 - Chair
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. in Ballroom 20 - Upper Level - Convention Center
Keith Flaherty, MD