Each year, the ACCC National Oncology Conference (NOC) brings together the brightest minds in cancer care to tackle our most pressing challenges. As we continue to navigate workforce shortages, increasing patient volumes, financial pressures, and rapidly evolving therapies, there has never been a more important time to learn from one another. My presidential theme for the year—Designing Oncology Care to Meet the Needs of a Growing Patient Population—is also reflected in the NOC agenda, and I am thrilled to see a lineup of sessions that address so many of the current barriers to accessing oncology care and rethinking how that care is delivered.
As ACCC President, I know that recognizing the ACCC Innovator Award recipients reinforces one of the core reasons attendance at the NOC is so powerful: It allows attendees not just to hear about innovative ideas, but to learn directly from those who are transforming cancer care. The 43rd NOC in Boston, Massachusetts, promises to do exactly that. Under the theme Igniting Innovation, this year's programming is filled with practical, real-world solutions that can be translated directly into cancer programs of every size.
One session I am particularly looking forward to is "Care Beyond the Clinic Walls: Redesigning Between-Visit Oncology Care." This session will explore how international cancer programs are addressing many of the same challenges we face in the United States—not by building more clinics or adding more staff, but by fundamentally redesigning care between patient visits through proactive, therapy-specific remote patient monitoring integrated into routine workflows.
The title alone speaks volumes. Cancer care does not begin and end when a patient walks through our doors. Some of the greatest opportunities to improve outcomes occur between visits through timely communication, remote symptom management, patient engagement, and coordinated care that keeps patients connected while allowing them to remain safely at home whenever possible.
As I have shared throughout my presidential year, our future depends on designing oncology care to meet the needs of a growing patient population. That means empowering our workforce, embracing innovative technologies, and rethinking traditional models of care. Sessions like this one exemplify that vision. They challenge us to ask not, "How can we do more with what we have?" but rather, "How can we redesign care to better serve patients and support our teams?"
The NOC is more than an educational conference. It is where oncology professionals come together to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and discover practical innovations that can transform cancer care across our communities. Whether your focus is clinical care, operations, research, quality, navigation, pharmacy, administration, or leadership, there is something here that will inspire new thinking and provide actionable solutions.
I encourage every ACCC member to join us in Boston this October. Come prepared to learn. Come prepared to share. Most importantly, come prepared to return home with ideas that will strengthen your cancer program and improve the lives of the patients and families we serve.
I look forward to seeing you there. Register here.
At the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Louisiana Oncology Society received the ASCO Jeffrey C Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award for advancing critical advocacy priorities that have translated into meaningful legislative victories. The Iowa Oncology Society and Washington State Medical Oncology Society were also recognized for their advocacy efforts in 2025 at the meeting, receiving second place awards.
