2025 Spring Symposium: Emerging Frontiers in Cancer Genetics

The ASHG Spring Symposium is a digital-only event over two half-days (April 8 and 9 from 9am-12pm Eastern) featuring talks about recent developments in cancer genetics and genomics. If you’re interested in seeing some of the modern approaches to the prediction and evolution of cancer, this symposium is for you. The presentations will cover predicting cancer risk, non-coding variation in cancer, understanding variant function, precision oncology, and new technical innovations. 

Session Descriptions 

April 8, Day One:

Deciphering Noncoding Regulation, 9:00am – 10:00am

Cancer genomics often focuses on the gain and loss of function variants in protein-coding genes. For this session, we’ll look at the role of non-coding DNA as a cancer driver. The featured talks will include mechanisms for non-coding regulatory regions and the function of some intronic variants. 

Genomics-Aided Precision Oncology, 10:00am – 11:00am

Oncology has been at the forefront of taking a “precision medicine” approach to individual patient care and genetic counseling for risk. In this session, we’ll hear about integrating genomics data into the care of patients, with experience ranging from single centers to nationwide cancer programs. 

Refining Variant Classification in Cancer, 11:00am – 12:00pm

In this session, you’ll learn about methods to help classify genetic variants associated with cancer. We will cover methods ranging from mechanistic studies using single-cell RNA-Seq and saturation mutagenesis to more informatic approaches.

April 9, Day Two:

Cancer Versus the Immune System, 9:00am – 10:00am

In this session, hear about advances in our understanding of the immune system's role in cancer control. Talks will include how tumors evade immune surveillance and how to predict response to immune checkpoint therapies based on machine learning assessment of tumor variant pathogenicity. 

Innovations in Cancer Genomics and Prediction, 10:00am – 11:00am

Genomic technologies evolve rapidly. This session will focus on cutting-edge techniques in cancer genomics, such as predicting original tumor anatomical location from their mutational pattern, cell-free DNA applications, and single-cell multiomics. 

Polygenic Models of Cancer Risk, 11:00am – 12:00pm

Single-point variant estimates of cancer risk can help guide care, but these variants act along with an individual’s other genetic variants. This session will take a broader view of risk assessment, including polygenic risk scores in breast cancer, risk integration in health care, and consideration of multiple population-enriched germline variants.

**Registration free for NIH employees. Please email us at digitalprograms@ashg.org for assistance.