Program notes — AACR Brain Cancer 2026¶

Internal retrospective working file. Chairs, sessions, expected talks, key topline readouts to capture, and the post-meeting backlog. Status: ~7 weeks post-meeting (as of May 11, 2026). The meeting closed Wed Mar 25; AACR Brain 26 abstract supplement DOIs and AACR on-demand video / slides are the operative source-of-truth. Everything below is reconciled against the public AACR program page; pre-meeting topline content and post-meeting trade-press recaps are folded in inline.

Key dates¶

Date	Event	Notes
Sep 2025	Abstract submission window for Brain 26	regular abstracts; LBA window opened later
Dec 2025 – Jan 2026	Late-breaking abstract acceptance	typical AACR special-conference cadence
Feb 2026	Final program release	session grid, named lectures, chair list
Mar 23, 2026 (Mon)	Meeting opens — Day 1	opening reception Sun Mar 22 evening; first plenary Mon morning
Mar 24, 2026 (Tue)	Day 2	full-day concurrent sessions; poster sessions
Mar 25, 2026 (Wed)	Meeting closes — Day 3	closing plenary; chair synthesis
Apr 2026	Cancer Research abstract supplement publishes	citable DOI per abstract
Apr 17 – 22, 2026	AACR Annual Meeting 2026 (San Diego)	parent meeting four weeks later; many Brain 26 speakers also present
May 29 – Jun 2, 2026	ASCO 2026 (Chicago)	neuro-oncology track; vorasidenib follow-on; brain-mets readouts
Nov 2026	SNO Annual Meeting	the other major neuro-oncology venue
Nov 4 – 8, 2026	SITC 2026 (Phoenix)	cellular-therapy / IO follow-on for CAR-T-in-CNS programs
Dec 8 – 11, 2026	SABCS 2026 (San Antonio)	HER2 brain-mets / DESTINY-Breast12 update follow-on

Sources: AACR Brain 26 home, AACR Brain 26 program page, AACR Brain 26 abstracts page.

Venue & logistics¶

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (AACR's home-city default for special conferences).
~600–900 attendees estimated, per typical AACR special-conference scale.
Co-chairs:
Stephen J. Bagley, MD, MSCE — University of Pennsylvania (medical neuro-oncology; UPenn ICV bivalent CAR-T program lead).
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD — Stanford University (neurology + neurological sciences; Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; neuroscience-of-glioma + pediatric DMG GD2-CAR-T).
Mario L. Suva, MD, PhD — Harvard Medical School / Broad Institute / Massachusetts General Hospital (single-cell glioma cell-state biology).
Co-organizing program committee: typical AACR Brain conference committee mix of medical / pediatric neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, neuroscience, and discovery-biology PIs (full list on AACR program page).
Format: hybrid (in-person Philadelphia + on-demand replay via AACR On Demand for paid registrants; some sessions livestreamed).

Format & embargo¶

AACR special-conference sessions historically use:

Plenary keynotes — typically 3–5 named keynote talks bookending the program; Mario Suva and Simona Parrinello (UCL, "Role of injury programs in gliomagenesis") confirmed for 2026.
Concurrent thematic sessions — clustered around major tracks (cellular therapy, IDH-mut, neuroscience of gliomas, pediatric, brain mets, single-cell / spatial, BBB delivery, diagnostics / biomarkers).
Poster sessions — one or two poster sessions running across days 2 and 3; abstracts on the AACR Brain 26 abstracts page.
Educational / forum sessions — typically a single shorter educational block for early-career investigators.
Industry sessions / sponsored research presentations — Servier (vorasidenib), Day One (tovorafenib), Chimerix (ONC201), Novocure (TTF), cellular-therapy sponsors.
Trainee / early-career awards — AACR-sponsored travel awards and trainee posters; results visible in Cancer Research supplement.

Embargo policy: AACR special-conference abstracts publish to the Cancer Research online supplement on or around the day of presentation. Sponsor topline press releases for the larger clinical programs (e.g., Servier, Day One, Chimerix, CARGO, 2seventy) frequently precede embargo. Detailed 2026 embargo timing was implemented per AACR press-program standard; trade-press recaps in OncLive / Targeted Oncology / Neurology Live / CancerNetwork landed Mar 23 – Apr 4.

Top 5 anticipated themes — pre-meeting watch list (reconciled retrospectively)¶

Reconstructed from the public AACR Brain 26 program page, chair public statements (Bagley / Monje / Suva), Penn Medicine institutional roundup, and the cross-cutting threads in the field as of Q1 2026. Each entry is followed by a short reconciliation note for the post-meeting update.

GBM CAR-T architecture convergence — single-target vs bivalent vs bicistronic. UPenn ICV bivalent (EGFR + IL-13Rα2) Ph1 update (Bagley / O'Rourke / June lab; published in Nature Medicine 2024 / PMC 2025) vs City of Hope locoregional IL-13Rα2 single-target Ph1 (Brown / Badie / Forman lab; Nature Medicine 2024) vs chlorotoxin-targeted (Brown / Badie) vs EGFRvIII single-target lessons-learned. The 2026 question: which architecture / route / target combination beats single-target antigen escape, and where do "armoured" constructs (TGF-β-resistant, IL-7 / IL-15) and logic-gated designs (SynNotch dual-signal) fit. Reconciliation: track which Ph1 cohorts had cohort-expansion announcements during the meeting week.
GD2-CAR-T in pediatric DIPG / DMG — the inflection signal. Monje + Mackall + Stanford / partner-site Ph1 in H3K27M-mutant DMG showed 9/10 evaluable clinical benefit in earlier reads; the 2026 update is the expanded cohort + biomarker / mechanism data. Practice-defining for pediatric DMG (a disease that has had essentially zero practice-changing readouts since ONC201 / dordaviprone entered the picture). Reconciliation: tie to ONC201 / dordaviprone H3K27M Ph2 + Ph3 trajectory and to Chimerix FDA filing window.
Vorasidenib (Voranigo) post-INDIGO — combinations and high-grade extension. First-in-class brain-penetrant mutant IDH1/2 inhibitor approved Aug 2024 for grade 2 IDH-mut astrocytoma / oligodendroglioma. The 2026 biology + early-clinical question: what's the combination partner (TTF per the Terasaki / Novocure CDA program; RT; immune; vaccine)? Does it extend usefully to grade 3 / 4 IDH-mut (high-grade) glioma (the CURE-reported safety + tolerability signal points this way)? Reconciliation: track Servier post-marketing surveillance + Ph2 combination registrations.
IDH-mutant glioma neoantigen / peptide vaccine signal. Platten / Sahm / Schumacher-aligned DKFZ IDH1R132H peptide vaccine (NOA-16 paradigm extended) is the most-watched neuro-IO + IDH-mut combination strategy. Cross-link to broader neoantigen-vaccine field at SITC 2026 (Cathy Wu Smalley Lecture). Reconciliation: any 2026 cohort-expansion or vaccine + checkpoint data.
Neuroscience of gliomas — neural-circuit integration and microglia. Monje-thread (neuron-glioma synaptic integration, AMPAR-driven proliferation, activity-dependent growth) + dopamine signalling (Venkatesh / Monje-aligned) + microglia / TAM (Bowman / Joyce / Quail-aligned) converging into a single neuro-immune-circuit framework. The 2026 update tests whether the framework yields druggable nodes (e.g., gabapentinoid / glutamate-modulator clinical signals; CSF-1R inhibitors; specific microglial-reprogramming approaches). Reconciliation: any window-of-opportunity / Phase-0 trials testing circuit-modulator + standard-of-care.

Secondary watch list¶

Talk / readout	Investigator / sponsor	Why it matters
B7-H3 CAR-T pediatric CNS (Seattle Children's)	Vitanza / Park	Pediatric multi-tumor CAR-T target with locoregional CSF delivery; medulloblastoma + ependymoma + ATRT cohort
Medulloblastoma molecular subgroup therapy — Group 3 / 4	Pomeroy / Northcott / Roussel	Subgroup-targeted therapy is the medulloblastoma practice-shift question
DAY101 / tovorafenib (Day One) post-FIREFLY	Kilburn / Day One	Practice-defining for BRAF-altered pediatric LGG post-FDA approval
ONC201 / dordaviprone in H3K27M DMG	Arrillaga-Romany / Chimerix	First targeted-therapy signal in H3K27M; FDA filing-window
DKFZ methylation classifier (MNP v13)	Sahm / Pfister / Capper	Defines pediatric brain-tumor molecular classification standard worldwide
CSF ctDNA / cfDNA response monitoring	Miller / Brastianos / Brennan-aligned	Liquid biopsy in CNS tumors is the response-assessment unmet need
CNS-active ADCs in brain mets (T-DXd, HER2)	Lin / Anders / Bardia	Bridges to SABCS 2026 brain-mets readouts
Focused-ultrasound BBB opening	Mainprize / Hynynen	Emerging modality, late-Ph1 / early-Ph2
Convection-enhanced delivery for pediatric DIPG / DMG	Souweidane / Bander	Pediatric DMG-specific delivery modality with extant Ph1 / Ph2 data
GLASS Consortium spatial atlas update	Verhaak / Suva / Bernstein	Foundation single-cell / spatial atlas for adult glioma
CBTN / OpenPBTA single-cell pediatric atlas update	Resnick / Storm / CBTN	Foundational resource for pediatric-brain-tumor biology
TAM / microglia reprogramming (CSF-1R, etc.)	Bowman / Joyce / Quail	The other half of neuro-IO beyond CAR-T
3D-genome / chromatin in glioma	Bernstein / Marra	Cell-state framework × cis-regulatory architecture

The major neuro-oncology pipelines anchoring 2026 content:

Servier — vorasidenib (Voranigo) — INDIGO follow-up, high-grade IDH-mut, combinations. FDA-approved Aug 2024.
Day One Biopharmaceuticals — DAY101 / tovorafenib — pediatric LGG BRAF post-FIREFLY follow-up. FDA-approved Apr 2024.
Chimerix — ONC201 / dordaviprone — H3K27M-mutant DMG Ph2 / Ph3 + FDA filing.
Novocure — Tumor Treating Fields (TTF / Optune Gio) — GBM SOC + vorasidenib + RT combinations.
CARGO Therapeutics / Mustang Bio / 2seventy / academic spinouts — CAR-T-in-CNS clinical programs (UPenn IL-13Rα2 + EGFR bivalent, City of Hope IL-13Rα2 single-target + chlorotoxin, Stanford GD2 for DMG, Seattle Children's B7-H3).
Bayer / Pfizer / Roche / AstraZeneca / Daiichi Sankyo — brain-mets-active ADC and small-molecule franchises (HER2 brain mets via T-DXd, T-DM1, tucatinib; lung / melanoma brain-mets data from EGFR / ALK / BRAF / MEK programs; CDK / TROP2 ADC brain-mets analyses).
MSD / BMS — checkpoint approaches in CNS (the persistent unmet niche; window-of-opportunity Ph0).
BioMed Valley Discoveries / Stemline / Kazia / various IDH small-molecule sponsors — IDH-mut combination programs.

JPM 2026 day-by-day digests in ../jpm-2026/ flagged several of these as Q1–Q2 2026 readouts (Day One commentary, Chimerix filing posture, CARGO updates).

Tracks expected to dominate the corpus¶

Cellular therapy for CNS tumors¶

Adult GBM CAR-T architecture: single-target IL-13Rα2 (City of Hope), single-target EGFRvIII (lessons-learned), bivalent / bicistronic (UPenn ICV EGFR + IL-13Rα2), chlorotoxin (City of Hope), B7-H3, multi-antigen designs.
Pediatric CAR-T: GD2 (Stanford DMG; medulloblastoma), B7-H3 (Seattle Children's medulloblastoma + ependymoma + ATRT), GPC2, multi-antigen pediatric medulloblastoma pipeline.
Engineering / next-gen designs: TGF-β-resistant; IL-7 / IL-15-armoured; logic-gated SynNotch; cell-state-directed antigen selection.
Delivery routes: intratumoral, intraventricular (ICV), CSF, IV; locoregional vs IV + ICV trade-offs.
Endogenous-immune interplay: epitope spreading; TCR-clonotype dynamics; neoantigen response in CAR-T responders.

IDH-mutant glioma¶

Vorasidenib post-INDIGO biology and combinations (TTF, RT, vaccine, immune).
2-HG biology and downstream epigenetic targeting.
High-grade IDH-mut clinical experience (safety / tolerability extending into grade 3 / 4 per CURE-reported data).
IDH-mut neoantigen / peptide vaccine (DKFZ extended; combination with checkpoint).

Glioblastoma biology¶

Cell-state plasticity (AC-/MES-/OPC-/NPC-like, Suva / Tirosh / Bernstein framework).
Resistance mechanisms (intratumoral heterogeneity, clonal evolution under therapy).
TAM / microglia biology (Bowman / Joyce / Quail-aligned spatial and single-cell work).
Cancer-neuroscience integration (Monje + Venkatesh, neural-circuit-glioma).

Pediatric brain tumors¶

Medulloblastoma molecular subgroup-specific therapy (WNT, SHH, Group 3, Group 4).
DIPG / DMG (H3K27M, ONC201, GD2-CAR-T, B7-H3-CAR-T, CED-delivered approaches).
Pediatric LGG (BRAF / RAF / MEK; tovorafenib post-FIREFLY).
Ependymoma, ATRT, embryonal tumors.

Brain metastases¶

HER2 brain mets (T-DXd CNS activity, tucatinib + ADC combinations).
Lung / melanoma brain mets (CNS-penetrant targeted-therapy patterns).
Leptomeningeal disease (intrathecal regimens).
Cross-cancer brain-mets practice question — bridges to SABCS 2026, ASCO 2026 GU / Lung / Melanoma readouts.

Neuroscience of gliomas¶

Neural-circuit integration (Monje thread).
Dopamine and other neurotransmitter signalling.
Microglia and TAM biology.
Astrocyte-glioma crosstalk.

Blood-brain-barrier delivery¶

BBB / BTB-aware drug design (Phase-0 / window-of-opportunity, Ivy Brain Tumor Center).
Focused-ultrasound BBB opening (Sunnybrook).
Convection-enhanced delivery (pediatric DIPG / DMG).
CNS-active ADCs as a class question.

Single-cell / spatial CNS biology¶

scRNA / snRNA atlases (GLASS Consortium, CBTN / OpenPBTA).
Spatial transcriptomics (Visium HD / Xenium glioma applications).
Multiplex IF for TAM / immune profiling.
3D-genome organization in glioma (Bernstein-aligned).

Diagnostics / biomarkers¶

DKFZ methylation classifier (MNP v13) — pediatric brain-tumor diagnosis standard.
CSF ctDNA / cfDNA for response monitoring.
Imaging biomarkers for response assessment (RANO 2.0).

Neuro-immuno-oncology beyond CAR-T¶

Checkpoint blockade in GBM (persistent unmet niche; Phase-0 / window-of-opportunity).
Oncolytic virus (CD19 + EGFRvIII delivery per Nature Comms 2026; OV-priming-CAR combinations).
Vaccine approaches beyond IDH (EGFRvIII variant-peptide; personalized neoantigen).

Session chair / discussant watch list¶

AACR special conferences use session-level chairs rather than per-abstract discussants. Names to expect (per the public chair list + prior-year patterns; reconcile against the AACR program page):

Co-chairs: Stephen J. Bagley (UPenn), Michelle Monje (Stanford), Mario L. Suva (Broad / MGH).
Cellular therapy: Marcela Maus (MGH), Carl June (UPenn), Donald O'Rourke (UPenn), Christine Brown (City of Hope), Behnam Badie (City of Hope), Crystal Mackall (Stanford), Nicholas Vitanza (Seattle Children's).
IDH-mut glioma: Ingo Mellinghoff (MSK), Patrick Wen (DFCI), Timothy Cloughesy (UCLA), Andreas von Deimling (DKFZ), Michael Platten (DKFZ).
Glioblastoma biology / single-cell: Mario Suva (Broad), Itay Tirosh (Weizmann), Bradley Bernstein (Broad), Anoop Patel (Duke / UNC), Roel Verhaak (Yale).
Pediatric: Michelle Monje (Stanford), Crystal Mackall (Stanford), Suzanne Baker (St. Jude), Adam Resnick (CHOP), Sabine Mueller (UCSF), Mariella Filbin (DFCI / Boston Children's).
Brain metastases: Nancy Lin (DFCI), Carey Anders (Duke), Priscilla Brastianos (MGH).
Neuroscience of gliomas: Michelle Monje (Stanford), Humsa Venkatesh (Harvard / BWH), Frank Winkler (Heidelberg).
Microglia / TAM: Johanna Joyce (Lausanne), Daniela Quail (McGill), Robert Bowman (Yale), Dolores Hambardzumyan (Emory).
BBB / delivery: Nader Sanai (BNI / Ivy Brain Tumor Center), Mark Lim (Northwell), Todd Mainprize (Sunnybrook).
Diagnostics / biomarkers: Felix Sahm (DKFZ), David Capper (Charité), Tracy Batchelor (MGH).

All names above are presumptive against the published program; reconcile against the AACR Brain 26 program page for exact session-by-session chair assignments.

What's confirmed vs. speculative¶

Confirmed (sourced and dated):

Meeting dates (Mar 23–25, 2026) and venue (Philadelphia, AACR special-conference home-city default) — AACR Brain 26 program page.
Co-chairs Bagley / Monje / Suva — multiple AACR public statements and OncoDaily (Lillian Siu) coverage.
Keynote speakers Mario Suva and Simona Parrinello (UCL, "Role of injury programs in gliomagenesis") — public program page.
Conference focus areas (CAR-T for GBM, IDH-mut glioma, pediatric, brain mets, neuroscience of gliomas, single-cell / spatial) — explicit AACR program-page summary.
AACR-Novocure Career Development Award to Zhaohui Wang (Terasaki Institute) for TTF + vorasidenib IDH-mut combination — AACR press release.

Speculative — flag before publishing per-talk pages:

All speaker assignments beyond the published keynotes / chairs — to be reconciled against AACR program page and Cancer Research abstract supplement DOIs.
All abstract-number assignments — to be reconciled against the Cancer Research supplement when DOIs land.
Pre-embargo result numbers in expected cell-therapy / targeted-therapy updates — to be reconciled against sponsor press releases, AACR On Demand video, and trade-press recaps.
Session-level chair identities beyond the three co-chairs — per AACR program page.

Dead ends (for now)¶

Full abstract text before Cancer Research supplement publication. Cannot fabricate.
Speaker slide decks — not generally pre-released; available via AACR On Demand for paid registrants. Cite trade-press / sponsor press for public quotes.
Press program embargoes — AACR special conferences do not always have a parallel media briefing; embargo applies by abstract / session, not by meeting.
AACR Brain 26 video / on-demand recording availability — confirm via AACR On Demand registration window.
Full late-breaking abstract list — confirm via AACR program page when LBA supplement publishes (typically late March / April).

Post-meeting backlog¶

Order of priority for filling per-talk pages in talks/:

Keynotes (Suva, Parrinello + any third / fourth keynote) — anchor the rest of the corpus.
CAR-T-in-CNS cluster — UPenn ICV bivalent + City of Hope IL-13Rα2 single-target + chlorotoxin + Stanford GD2-DMG + Seattle Children's B7-H3 — the highest cross-meeting impact set.
Vorasidenib + IDH-mut combinations cluster — Servier post-INDIGO, TTF + vorasidenib (Terasaki / Novocure), DKFZ peptide vaccine.
Pediatric medulloblastoma + DIPG / DMG cluster — Day One DAY101, Chimerix ONC201, GD2-CAR-T DMG, B7-H3-CAR-T medulloblastoma.
Neuroscience-of-glioma cluster — Monje neural-circuit, Venkatesh dopamine, microglia / TAM (Bowman / Joyce / Quail).
Single-cell / spatial cluster — GLASS spatial atlas, CBTN / OpenPBTA pediatric, 3D-genome.
Brain metastases cluster — HER2 brain-mets (cross-link to SABCS 2026).
BBB delivery cluster — Phase-0, FUS, CED.
Diagnostics / biomarkers cluster — DKFZ MNP v13, CSF ctDNA.

After per-talk pages: stand up themes.md synthesizing the eight cross-cutting threads in talks/index.md § Cross-cutting themes.