Left to right: 2024–2025 AACR President Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), FAACR; AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); and 2023–2024 AACR President Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR.

Dear Colleagues and Friends of the AACR:

We are very pleased to present the 2024 Annual Impact Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s extraordinary progress during the past year in support of our mission: to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, research funding, and science policy and advocacy.

The theme of the AACR Annual Meeting 2024, “Inspiring Science | Fueling Progress | Revolutionizing Care,” is also the theme of this report. The report outlines all the ways in which the AACR’s programs and initiatives support the efforts of scientists and clinicians across the full spectrum of cancer research to save, extend, and enhance the lives of patients with cancer.

As this report documents, 2024 was another year of spectacular achievements. The AACR Annual Meeting 2024 attracted a record number of attendees, as more than 23,000 people from 78 countries gathered in San Diego and online to share the latest advances in cancer science and medicine. In addition, AACR Project GENIE® shared its 16th public data release, increasing the size of this international pancancer registry to more than 214,000 sequenced tumors from nearly 185,000 patients.

The AACR Board of Directors approved a comprehensive program to eliminate AACR membership dues for all researchers located in countries that are building research capacities, significantly expanding the number of investigators worldwide who can enjoy the benefits of AACR membership and participate in the global effort to prevent and cure all cancers. And the latest edition of the AACR Cancer Progress Report showcased how the dedicated efforts of researchers working across the entire continuum of cancer science and medicine from the laboratory to the clinic have powered breakthroughs that are improving outcomes for patients—including the FDA approval of 17 new cancer therapeutics in 2024.

One of those therapeutics was the PI3K inhibitor inavolisib, which was approved by the FDA in combination with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib and the hormone therapeutic fulvestrant for the treatment of advanced or metastatic PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that is resistant to endocrine therapy. The seven-year history of inavolisib—which now offers hope for patients who have long had limited treatment options—offers a perfect example of the AACR’s unique role in supporting the complete lifecycle of cancer research, from basic science discoveries to translational investigations to clinical applications.

The chemical structure of inavolisib was first presented to the cancer research community in a New Drugs on the Horizon session at the AACR Annual Meeting 2017. Subsequent studies demonstrating that inavolisib selectively inhibits mutant forms of the PI3K component p110—making it more effective and less toxic in combination therapies than other PI3K inhibitors—were published in the AACR journal Cancer Discovery in 2022. Those studies were led by our colleague Lori S. Friedman, PhD, who currently serves as the chair of the AACR Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group. And the results of the phase III trial upon which the FDA based its approval were first shared at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which the AACR presents in partnership with UT Health San Antonio. It is important to note that from first disclosure to paradigm-shifting discovery to the practice-changing trial, the AACR was a vital contributor to the development of this important new therapeutic.

As this report demonstrates, the AACR made vital contributions across every sector of the cancer community in 2024, fueling the progress that has revolutionized care for patients with cancer. Powered by the expertise and relentless efforts of our now more than 58,000 members residing in 141 countries around the world, the AACR will continue to sustain the pipeline of progress until our mission is achieved.