Plan your time onsite or online with key timings, rooms, presenters and links to the Presidential Symposia and keynote sessions at ESMO Congress 2026
With the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026 fast approaching, attention is turning to Madrid, where the meeting is held from 23–27th October. Whether you are joining onsite or via the virtual platform, the three Presidential Symposia are the sessions not to miss. This year they carry 12 late-breaking abstracts (LBAs) spanning melanoma, lung, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, gynecological and rare cancers.
With close to 300 scientific and educational sessions to choose from, we know the programme can feel overwhelming. So we have put together a quick guide to the headline sessions: when and where they run, who is presenting, and links to explore each one in the programme planner, so you can decide which to prioritize.
Finding your way: All three Presidential Symposia take place in the Alicante Auditorium, Hall 6. Venue information is available on the ESMO Congress 2026 website, and every session can be added to your personal schedule via the ESMO 2026 programme planner.
Watch the clock! Daylight saving time ends in Spain overnight on 24–25 October. Times are CEST up to and including Saturday, and CET from Sunday onwards, so double-check any reminders synced to your phone or calendar.
Friday 23 October
Opening session
When 11:30–13:00 CEST
Congress President Fabrice André (Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France) opens ESMO 2026 with the ESMO Presidential address. He leads this year’s congress alongside Scientific Co-Chairs Yelena Janjigian and James Larkin and Educational Chair Nadia Harbeck.
Keynote lecture 1
Wolfgang Wick (Heidelberg, Germany) discusses the latest in CNS disease — glioblastoma, metastases, and leptomeningeal disease as the next clinical frontier
When 15:15–15:45 CEST
Saturday 24 October
Presidential Symposium I
When 16:30–18:15 CEST · Where Alicante Auditorium, Hall 6
The first Presidential Symposium opens with phase 3 data for an individualised mRNA-based neoantigen therapy in melanoma, followed by perioperative bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer and very high-risk localised prostate cancer.
| LBA | Trial | Setting and comparison | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBA1 | INTerpath-001 | Intismeran autogene + pembrolizumab vs pembrolizumab alone; adjuvant, resected stage IIB–IV melanoma | Georgina V. Long |
| LBA2 | VOLGA | Perioperative durvalumab ± tremelimumab + neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin; muscle-invasive bladder cancer | Thomas Powles |
| LBA3 | DeLLphi-305 | Tarlatamab + durvalumab vs durvalumab; first-line maintenance, extensive-stage SCLC | Jacob Sands |
| LBA4 | DASL-HiCaP (ANZUP1801) | Darolutamide + ADT with definitive or salvage locoregional radiotherapy; localised, very high-risk prostate cancer | Tamim Niazi |
Sunday 25 October
Presidential Symposium II
When 16:30–18:15 CET (note: clocks have gone back) · Where Alicante Auditorium, Hall 6
Sunday’s session focuses on targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer and on upper gastrointestinal and biliary tract cancers.
| LBA | Trial | Setting and comparison | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBA5 | KRAScendo 1 | Divarasib vs sotorasib or adagrasib; previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated advanced NSCLC | Ferdinandos Skoulidis |
| LBA6 | SAFFRON | Osimertinib + savolitinib vs platinum–pemetrexed; EGFR-mutated, MET-overexpressed and/or amplified advanced NSCLC after osimertinib | Shun Lu |
| LBA7 | CLARITY-Gastric 01 | Sonesitatug vedotin; second-line or later CLDN18.2-positive advanced gastro-oesophageal carcinoma | Rui-Hua Xu |
| LBA8 | HARMONi-GI1 | Ivonescimab + chemotherapy vs durvalumab + chemotherapy; first-line advanced biliary tract cancer | Jian Zhou |
Monday 26 October
Presidential Symposium III
When 16:30–18:15 CET · Where Alicante Auditorium, Hall 6
The final Presidential Symposium brings two phase 3 endometrial cancer trials, relapsed osteosarcoma, and a pan-tumor question many clinicians will recognize from daily practice: can immune checkpoint inhibitor dosing frequency be safely reduced in responding patients?
| LBA | Trial | Setting and comparison | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBA9 | ARTEMIS-011 | Risvutatug rezetecan vs gemcitabine + docetaxel; heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory osteosarcoma | Lu Xie |
| LBA10 | MIOIO | Reduced-frequency vs standard immune checkpoint inhibitor dosing in responding patients; advanced/metastatic solid tumours (phase III non-inferiority) | Gwenaëlle Gravis |
| LBA11 | TroFuse-005 / ENGOT-en23 / GOG-3095 | Sacituzumab tirumotecan; previously treated advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer | Domenica Lorusso |
| LBA12 | KEYNOTE-C93 / GOG-3064 / ENGOT-en15 | First-line pembrolizumab vs carboplatin + paclitaxel; dMMR advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma | Brian Slomovitz |
Tuesday 27 October
Scientific Congress Highlights
When 09:00–13:00 CET
If the Presidential Symposia clashed with your own sessions, the closing morning distils the key data from each track, giving a compact catch-up before you head home.
A note for our hematology followers! The Proffered Paper session on haematological malignancies runs on Saturday morning, 24 October.
We hope this guide helps you plan your congress schedule and make time for the sessions you are most looking forward to. Keep an eye on touchONCOLOGY for our latest news, expert perspectives and onsite interviews throughout the congress. We look forward to seeing you in Madrid!
Explore the sessions and speaker profiles
This content has been developed independently by Touch Medical Media for touchONCOLOGY. It is not affiliated with the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). Views expressed are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Touch Medical Media. This article was created by the editorial team utilizing AI as an editorial tool (Claude.AI and ChatGPT 5.5). The content was developed and edited by human editors. No funding was received in the publication of this article.
Cite: ESMO 2026: Your quick guide to the Presidential Symposia and Keynote sessions. touchONCOLOGY. 20th October 2026.
Editor: Sophie Nickelson
