AI, CAR-T, microbiome therapies, and long-term data were among the themes shaping this year’s programme.
By Isabel Sánchez-Ortega, EBMT Chief Medical Officer, Education Director and Secretary of the Practice Harmonisation and Guidelines Committee
The 52nd Annual Meeting of the EBMT brought together a broad and ambitious scientific programme, with more than 1,600 abstracts, 187 sessions, 226 oral presentations, and 920 printed posters. Among this rich offering, several physicians’ sessions stood out for their relevance to clinical practice and their insight into where the field is heading.
Ane Altuna Mongelos, recipient of the Basic Science Award, presented work that demonstrated the importance of linking basic, translational and clinical research to improve patient care. In the Van Bekkum Award lecture, Roni Shouval presented an innovative approach using blood smear imaging to monitor lymphocyte populations after CAR-T therapy, pointing to new possibilities for practical patient monitoring. AI was also explored more broadly in diagnostics and research, including its potential to support molecular analysis, minimal residual disease assessment, and the use of synthetic data in clinical research.
CAR-T remained another strong focus throughout the programme. One of the most impactful studies was presented by Charlotte Graham, who reported findings from a retrospective analysis of nearly 7,000 patients from the EBMT Registry, identifying infections as the leading cause of non-relapse mortality in the CAR-T setting.
The finding reinforced the importance of infection prevention and long-term follow-up as these therapies continue to evolve. Other sessions addressed manufacturing failure, access to treatment, secondary malignancies, and quality of life, underlining the need for a more comprehensive and patient-centred approach.
The meeting also explored how emerging therapies are reshaping the role of transplantation. In lymphoma, the increasing use of bispecific antibodies and CAR-T is raising important questions about treatment sequencing and integration. Florent Malard also presented results from the phase 3 ARES trial investigating MaaT013 in refractory gastrointestinal acute graft-versus-host disease, highlighting the potential of microbiome-based therapies in a particularly challenging area of transplant medicine.
Finally, the workshop on decades of impact offered a broader perspective on EBMT’s contribution to the field. With long-term data from more than 800,000 patients, over 920,000 transplants, and nearly 18,000 CAR-T patients in the EBMT Registry, the session reinforced the value of EBMT’s scientific, educational, and collaborative role in shaping the future of transplantation and cellular therapy.
Taken together, the physicians’ sessions at EBMT 2026 reflected a field moving quickly, with innovation, data and patient-centred care increasingly defining the next phase of progress.