Why Healthcare Leadership Is the Missing Variable in Cancer Care

The 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting brought together more than 40,000 oncology professionals at McCormick Place in Chicago from 29 May to 2 June. Under the theme “The Science and Practice of Translation: Improving Cancer Outcomes Worldwide,” this year’s conference placed the challenge of moving breakthroughs from laboratory to clinical practice at the centre of the global oncology conversation. CF Leadership was proud to be part of it.

We shared our perspective on how the leadership capability of healthcare and oncology organisations can shape their ability to move from discovery to delivery, and what that means for how executive talent in this sector should be identified, assessed, and developed.

ASCO 2026 reinforced something we see consistently in our work: the gap between what is scientifically possible and what is actually delivered to patients is, in large part, a leadership gap. Closing it requires healthcare organisations to think as carefully about the quality of their executive talent as they do about the quality of their science.

Our Solutions

CF Leadership partners with healthcare and life sciences organisations on executive search, succession planning, leadership assessment, and development – with deep expertise across the full breadth of the sector, from pharmaceutical and biotech to hospital systems, oncology networks, and health technology. We help organisations find and build the leaders who can translate scientific and strategic ambition into lasting clinical and commercial outcomes.

Learn more at leadcf.com/services