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Cancer Prevention Research Conference, London, 2025

Johanna Pruller Conferences

PLOS One staff editor Johanna Pruller joined the Cancer Prevention Research Conference 2025 in London, UK, organized by Cancer Research UK and the American Cancer Society. The conference attracted international experts, early-career researchers, and patient advocates to discuss advances in cancer biology, prevention strategies, and policy challenges. It aimed to bring together clinicians, academics, industry representatives, funding organizations and patient advocates to discuss scientific advances, form new collaborations and to meet new colleagues. Over three days, the program combined keynote lectures, scientific sessions, debates, and panel discussions.

Speakers and poster presenters explored a large variety of different topics during the conference, with a strong focus on the following key themes and insights:

  1. Pre-cancer biology: Advances in understanding early lesion biology open new interception opportunities.
  2. Immune system role: Immune dysfunction is increasingly recognized as central to cancer development and prevention.
  3. Inequalities: Socioeconomic and geographic disparities remain major barriers to equitable cancer prevention.
  4. Ageing & genetics: Interaction between ageing processes and genetic predisposition
    shapes cancer risk.
  5. Repurposed drugs: Growing evidence for precision prevention strategies, though implementation challenges remain.
  6. Policy debates: Discourse around when prevention should start (early life vs. adulthood), GLP-1 agonists, and feasibility of population-wide implementation.
  7. Patient/public perspectives: Emphasis on involving non-scientific voices in defining risk and priorities.

Professor Sir Jack Cuzick was honored with the Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Prevention Research award which celebrates scientific excellence, lasting impact, and a commitment to driving progress. The award honored Prof. Cuzick, who heads the Centre for Cancer Prevention at Queen Mary University, London, as a leader whose work has profoundly advanced understanding, implementation, or innovation in cancer prevention.

Detailed poster sessions provided a platform for attendees to come together and discuss 109 different projects. Posters spanned from basic biology and molecular mechanisms to epidemiology, prevention trials, and implementation science. Emphasis was on integrating molecular insights with population data to inform precision prevention. Many posters focused on lifestyle modification, drug repurposing, and early detection tools. Several projects highlighted disparities (geographic, socioeconomic, healthcare delivery) and debated various approaches and tools to mitigate them.

The conference focused on scientific advances and systemic challenges in cancer prevention, with a conclusion that integration of biological insights, equitable access, and community perspectives are essential for translating evidence into practice.

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