World Cancer Congress
The World Cancer Congress (WCC) is a recognised international conference that encourages effective knowledge transfer and best practices exchange amongst global cancer control and health experts.
The World Cancer Congress was awarded 'Best Conference Development' at the 2016 International & European Associations Awards and ‘Best use of social media’ with the 2016 WCC campaign at the 2017 Association Excellence Awards.
The event aims to strengthen the action and impact of the cancer community on national, regional and international scales through its educational programme which spans the full spectrum of cancer - from prevention and treatment to palliative care.
The first International Cancer Congress was held in Madrid in 1933. It led to the foundation of the International Union Against Cancer in 1935, renamed the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in 2010 and today’s proud winner of the International & European Association Award for Membership Engagement.
The WCC supports UICC's mission statement 'unite and support the cancer community to reduce the global cancer burden, to promote greater equity, and to ensure that cancer control continues to be a priority in the world health and development agenda'.
The event takes place every two years in a different country and is hosted by a local member of UICC.
World Cancer Congress 2024 in numbers
Upcoming Congress: World Cancer Congress 2026
The next edition of the Congress will be held in Hong Kong, from 24 to 26 September 2026, hosted by the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society.
Latest updates about the World Cancer Congress
Call for expressions of interest to host the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit 2027 or the World Cancer Congress 2028
Uniting for cancer control: Highlights from the World Cancer Congress 2024
UICC's World Cancer Congress kicks off!
Past Congress reports
Past UICC Congresses
- 28th GENEVA, Switzerland 17-19 September 2024
- 27th Geneva, Switzerland 18-20 October 2022
- 26th edition was initially due to take place in MUSCAT, Oman on 20-22 October 2020, but was then pushed back to March 2021, however it was ultimately called off due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Read more about the announcement here
- 25th KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia 1-4 October 2018
- 24th PARIS, France 31 Oct.-3 Nov. 2016
- 23rd MELBOURNE, Australia Dec. 3-6, 2014
- 22nd MONTRÉAL, Canada August 27-30, 2012
- 21st SHENZHEN, China August 18-21, 2010
- 20th GENEVA, Switzerland August 27-31, 2008
- 19th WASHINGTON, U.S.A. July 8-12, 2006
- 18th OSLO, Norway June 30 - July 4, 2002
- 17th RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil August 1998
- 16th NEW DELHI, India October-November 1994
- 15th HAMBURG, Germany August 1990
- 14th BUDAPEST, Hungary September 1986
- 13th SEATTLE, U.S.A. October 1982
- 12th BUENOS AIRES, Argentina October 1978
- 11th FLORENCE, Italy May 1974
- 10th HOUSTON, U.S.A. October 1970
- 9th TOKYO, Japan July 1966
- 8th MOSCOW, Russia July 1962
- 7th LONDON, U.K. July 1958
- 6th SAO PAULO, Brazil July 1954
- 5th PARIS, France September 1950
- 4th ST. LOUIS, U.S.A September 1947
- 3rd ATLANTIC CITY, U.S.A. September 1939
- 2nd BRUSSELS, Belgium September 1936
- 1st MADRID, Spain October 1933
UICC’s World Cancer Congress 2024 will take place on 17-19 September 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
UICC’s World Cancer Congress 2024 took place on 17-19 September 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Find our more about the past World Cancer Congresses
Last update
Friday 15 November 2024