Melbourne has secured the prestigious World Conference on Lung Cancer for 2029, a move set to bring more than 6,500 global experts to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Presented by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the event at is the world’s largest multidisciplinary gathering dedicated to thoracic malignancies. Delegates from over 100 countries will converge at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to share research and explore therapies aimed at improving global patient care.
The bid was secured by the Melbourne Convention Bureau in collaboration with the IASLC and Cancer Council Victoria, with support from the Victorian Government and Tourism Australia.
The announcement reinforces Victoria’s standing as a global leader in cancer survival and innovation. The state is home to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – Australia’s only dedicated public cancer hospital – and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre alliance.
Cancer Council Victoria, the state’s largest not-for-profit funder of cancer research, continues to invest over A$20 million (US$14 million) annually, contributing to a 30 per cent improvement in survival rates for common cancers over the last 30 years.
Victoria’s current roadmap, the Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028, targets halving preventable cancers and increasing survival through research excellence and equitable care. This follows a successful decade where the state achieved its goal of saving 10,000 lives by 2025.
The 2029 conference follows a series of major milestones for Victoria. In July 2025, the Australian Government launched a A$260 million National Lung Cancer Screening Program, providing free low-dose CT scans to high-risk individuals. Following that in November 2025, Melbourne hosted 86 countries for a landmark summit to set the global cancer agenda, focusing on AI in care and health equity.
