Inaugural Princess Margaret Cancer Prevention Symposium 2025
The inaugural Princess Margaret Cancer Prevention Symposium brought together more than 150 global and local researchers, clinicians, trainees, staff and community partners in Toronto.
The two-day symposium highlighted the latest advances in cancer prevention research, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the growing momentum driving preventive approaches to cancer care. It also served as a call to action to co-design the future of cancer prevention in Canada and around the world.
"This symposium provided an exceptional platform to bring global leaders in cancer prevention to Princess Margaret and showcase the breadth of ongoing molecular-targeted prevention research," says Dr. Rama Khokha, Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Head of Terry Fox Research Institute Mammary OMICs (TFRI-MOMICs) and Breast Cancer Canada Precision Prevention programs.
Dr. Khokha co-organized the symposium, held at the MaRS Discovery District on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, with Dr. Raymond Kim, Medical Director of Cancer Early Detection and the Bhalwani Familial Cancer Clinic at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
The gathering explored how to translate foundational and implementation research into real-world impact, reflecting on topics such as risk factors in breast cancer, clinical trials and interventions, early detection, preventive strategies and clonal hematopoiesis — a condition caused by genetic mutations in blood-forming stem cells that can increase the risk of blood cancers and other illnesses.
"Cancer prevention requires innovation and collaboration that will detect cancers before symptoms even appear," says Dr. Kim. "The symposium marked an important step toward building the partnerships and frameworks needed to make prevention a reality for more people."
The symposium was made possible through the collaboration and support of the planning committee, volunteers, and sponsors, including Agnico Eagle, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, Princess Margaret Cancer Research, and the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Together, their efforts are accelerating a new era in cancer prevention.
Princess Margaret Cancer Care Network Partners drive progress in cancer care
The Princess Margaret Cancer Care Network held its second annual Fall Partners Meeting on Oct. 8, 2025, uniting senior cancer care leaders to share insights, discuss common challenges, and explore opportunities to strengthen collaboration in cancer care.
Each partner organization shared updates and key initiatives from their cancer care programs. These presentations provided valuable insights into local innovations, emerging priorities, and opportunities for cross-site learning.
Participants then engaged in six focused sessions designed to promote knowledge exchange and strengthen collaboration across the Network. Topics included cancer genetic testing, next generation sequencing and circulating tumor DNA, implementing new cellular therapies in outpatient settings, increasing access to clinical trials, patient education and survivorship — all areas identified as priorities.
"The Fall Partners Meeting is an opportunity to learn from one another, share innovations and identify ways we can collectively improve outcomes for patients," says Dr. Andrea Bezjak, Medical Director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Care Network.
"By working closely with our partners, we are strengthening cancer care and advancing our shared mission of delivering world-class care to every patient, regardless of where they live."
The meeting was attended by representatives from each of the Network's seven partner organizations. Five of these are located in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario: Southlake Health, Waterloo Regional Health Network (formerly Grand River Hospital), Oak Valley Health, William Osler Health System and Mackenzie Health. The remaining two are out-of-province partners: Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
The Princess Margaret Cancer Care Network was conceptualized by Dr. Keith Stewart, Vice President of Cancer and Laboratory Medicine Program at UHN and Director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. It is led by Dr. Bezjak, with strategic guidance provided by Meena Merali, Director of Strategy, Transformation, and Foundation Relations at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
