Health professionals

Early Diagnosis conferences and events

For more than a decade, Cancer Research UK has hosted a series of conferences, events, and virtual sessions to help champion, focus and accelerate efforts to achieve earlier cancer diagnosis.

These events bring together researchers, health professionals, policy makers, cancer patients, and many more from across the UK and beyond – all of whom play a crucial role in driving a shared ambition to improve patient outcomes by reducing late-stage diagnosis.

Cancer Research UK's Early Diagnosis Conference 2027

Date

18-19 May 2027

Venue

The Midland, Manchester

Driving evidence into impact: Shaping policy and practice for earlier diagnosis

We are delighted to be hosting the 2027 Early Diagnosis Conference, bringing together researchers, policymakers, healthcare professionals and system leaders from across the UK and beyond. We look forward to welcoming you for a valuable opportunity to connect, collaborate and share learning.

Keep reading to learn more about this year's conference theme, programme and opportunities to get involved.

Theme

The theme of the 2027 Early Diagnosis Conference is translating evidence into policy and practice to achieve real-world impact, resulting in improved outcomes for patients.

The conference will explore strategic and practical approaches to addressing the key challenges and opportunities in earlier diagnosis, drawing on insights and learnings from experts across the UK and internationally. Through showcasing expertise in epidemiology, implementation science and behavioural science, the programme will highlight how evidence can be translated into policy and practice to drive meaningful impact and help people live longer, better lives free from the fear of cancer.

Registration

Early bird rates available until 1^st December

This is a caption table example
Standard ticket This ticket type is available to researchers, clinicians and academics.	Early bird rate £200 (normally £250)
Concession ticket This ticket type is available to students, patients and public contributors, early career researchers (ECRs), and representatives from charitable organisations.	Early bird rate £120 (normally £150)
Pharma/industry	Please contact us directly to discuss attendance: EDconference@cancer.org.uk

_{*Please note, admin fees will apply}

The cost of your ticket includes:

Full access to the two-day conference programme
Entry to all keynote sessions, presentations and panel discussions
Opportunities to connect and network with delegates from across research, policy and practice
Refreshments and lunch on both conference days
An evening conference dinner on Tuesday 18 May

Please see details below for ECR bursary applications. Applications for people affected by cancer will be managed through a separate process, with further details available in due course.

Abstracts

We're inviting abstracts for oral and poster presentations, alongside workshop sessions, across the following themes:

Implementation and optimisation of screening
Supporting timely presentation by the public
Optimising the referral journey from primary to secondary care
Improving pathways and service models to support timely cancer diagnosis
Translation of innovation

We would also like to encourage abstracts which focus on inequalities in cancer early diagnosis.

Please note that each successful abstract will be allocated one conference place for the named presenter. The presenter can be the person submitting the abstract or a colleague, but they must be identified on the abstract submission form. The presenter will be required to register and pay for conference attendance, and therefore we ask that presenter details are confirmed at the point of submission.

Abstract submissions will close on Friday 13 November.

Submit an abstract

Opportunities for Early Career Researchers

We are pleased to be offering several bursaries for Early Career Researchers. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to showcase their work through a short presentation at the conference, benefitting from feedback, insights and interaction with over 300 professionals working in early diagnosis.

Bursary recipients will also be connected with a cohort of fellow Early Career Researchers attending through the bursary scheme, providing opportunities to build networks and share experiences with colleagues at a similar stage in their careers.

The bursary includes a fully funded place at the conference as well as accommodation and travel expenses. Please note, bursary recipients must be able to attend both days in person.

ECR bursary applications will close on Friday 13 November.

Click here to apply

FAQs

Earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer is a strategic priority for Cancer Research UK. Improving outcomes requires coordinated action across the entire pathway, from discovery science and translational research through to health system improvement and policy change. Reflecting the breadth and importance of this field, Cancer Research UK supports two conference series that bring together different parts of the early detection and diagnosis community to share knowledge, foster collaboration and accelerate progress.

Our Early Detection of Cancer Conference focuses primarily on the science of early cancer detection. Jointly hosted by Cancer Research UK, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, it brings together researchers from multiple disciplines to share advances in early cancer biology, risk prediction, screening, epidemiology, data science and emerging technologies that could enable cancers to be detected earlier. The annual conference series is part of a long-term commitment to invest in early detection research, to understand the biology behind early-stage cancers, find new detection and screening methods and enhance uptake and accuracy of screening. The next conference will take place in Edinburgh on 6-8 October 2026 and return again in October 2027.

While the Early Detection of Cancer Conference focuses on generating the scientific evidence that enables earlier detection, the Cancer Research UK Early Diagnosis Conference focuses on how evidence can be translated into action. Our Cancer Research UK Early Diagnosis conference strives to bridge the gap between researchers, industry, policy makers and health system leaders to enact change across the diagnostic pathway – from addressing help seeking barriers to implementing changes to diagnostic services. The conference will provide a space to showcase epidemiology, implementation and behavioural science expertise to the wider cancer community, encouraging discussion on how to drive evidence into policy and practice changes. Our 2027 Early Diagnosis Conference will be taking place on 18and 19 May, in Manchester.

Previous events and conferences

Explore our previous events

Cancer Research UK have been running Early Diagnosis conferences since 2011. You can find reports, highlights and key takeaways from each on our previous events and conferences page.

Contact us

If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, please contact the team: