The American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions (ACC 2026) recently wrapped in New Orleans, bringing together clinicians, researchers, and industry leaders to share what’s next in cardiovascular medicine and disease management.
With hundreds of sessions and a significant volume of new research, one thing is clear: cardiovascular care is evolving, and quickly.
The Volume of Data Is Increasing, But So Is Its Relevance
ACC continues to reflect the pace of change in the field. This year’s meeting highlighted not just the scale of new data, but a shift in focus. Research is moving beyond theory and toward real-world application: emphasizing outcomes, risk stratification, and practical implementation.
For clinicians, the challenge is no longer access to information; it’s knowing what to do with it.
Late-Breaking Science Is Driving Practice Change
This year’s late-breaking clinical trials went well beyond incremental updates. The results from many major trials were announced, and a few of them are discussed below:
CORALreef AddOn: A New Era for Oral LDL Lowering
One of the most-discussed trials at ACC 2026, CORALreef AddOn, showed that the oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide outperformed several nonstatin combinations in reducing LDL cholesterol levels and achieving treatment goals in more patients.
Results showed a significant 65% reduction in LDL-C with enlicitide, compared to 6% with bempedoic acid, 28% with ezetimibe, and 37% with bempedoic acid plus ezetimibe.
For clinicians managing high-risk patients who can’t reach LDL targets on statins alone, and who prefer or require an oral option over injectables, this data is significant. The availability of another effective oral option allows physicians to tailor treatment to patient preference, as many patients still prefer oral therapies to injectable ones.
Essence-TIMI 73b: What Lowering Triglycerides Alone Does (and Doesn’t) Do
This imaging substudy delivered a notable finding for clinicians managing patients with elevated triglycerides. Olezarsen, despite lowering triglycerides by nearly 64% and remnant cholesterol by nearly 72%, did not reduce noncalcified coronary plaque volume after 12 months.
The findings suggest that short-term triglyceride lowering alone may not impact coronary plaque burden, highlighting the need for further research on long-term cardiovascular outcomes.
The takeaway for cardiometabolic practice: triglyceride reduction is not a substitute for aggressive LDL and ApoB management in patients at high cardiovascular risk.
THRIVE: Culturally Tailored Food-Is-Medicine Gets Clinical Traction
A culturally tailored food-is-medicine intervention significantly reduced systolic blood pressure in Black and Hispanic adults with hypertension, compared with those who received an equivalent amount of fresh produce without additional support.
The multipronged approach, which included produce prescriptions, dietitian coaching, and AI-optimized encouragement, led to a systolic blood pressure drop of 6.8 mmHg on average, compared to just 0.3 mmHg in the control group. For participants with high adherence to the DASH dietary pattern, the average systolic drop reached 13.3 mmHg, a level that exceeds the effects of some common blood pressure-lowering medications.
For clinicians treating populations with disproportionate rates of hypertension, this data makes a compelling case for integrating structured, culturally aligned dietary support into care.
PRO-TAVI: Rethinking Routine PCI Before Valve Replacement
In the PRO-TAVI trial, older patients with coronary artery disease for whom PCI was deferred until after TAVI had similar outcomes at one year as those for whom it was not deferred.
Not having PCI led to fewer major bleeding events, 6.2% versus 14.8%, and only about one in ten patients who did not have PCI needed it later.
The findings support a more selective, patient-tailored approach, particularly relevant for older adults at higher bleeding risk, which is a population that frequently presents in cardiometabolic practice.
CADENCE: A Signal for a Condition with No Approved Therapies
Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and high blood pressure in the lungs experienced significant improvements in blood pressure and vascular health after taking the drug sotatercept, according to results presented at ACC 2026.
CADENCE met its primary endpoint with those individuals who were randomly assigned to sotatercept, with a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance at 24 weeks.
This is a high-risk, older population with no previously approved targeted therapies, and the findings have prompted plans for a Phase 3 program.
The Future of Cardiometabolic Care: Individualized and Integrated
ACC 2026 spotlighted two transformative trends in cardiometabolic care: the shift toward personalized treatment and the growing need to manage increasingly complex patient cases. Clinicians are moving away from one-size-fits-all approaches, instead tailoring care to individual risk factors, comorbidities, and treatment responses. At the same time, managing multiple overlapping conditions has become the standard, requiring a more integrated and holistic approach to care.
These themes align closely with CMHC’s mission to turn groundbreaking research into practical strategies for preventing and managing cardiometabolic diseases. By equipping healthcare professionals with tools to navigate complexity and deliver personalized care, CMHC is driving meaningful progress in improving patient outcomes.
What This Means for Clinical Practice
The takeaway from ACC 2026 is not simply that there is more data; it’s that expectations for clinicians are changing.
Today’s healthcare professionals are being asked to:
- Identify risk earlier
- Tailor treatment strategies with greater precision
- Integrate care across specialties
- Apply evidence in ways that reflect the realities of diverse, real-world patient populations
These aren’t future aspirations—they’re the current demands of modern clinical practice.
Continuing the Conversation at CMHC 2026
While ACC 2026 highlights where cardiovascular medicine is headed, CMHC focuses on how to apply these advancements in real-world settings.
At CMHC 2026, the emphasis will be on translating emerging data into actionable strategies for patient care. By bringing together experts from cardiology, endocrinology, and primary care, CMHC fosters collaboration to address the full spectrum of cardiometabolic disease.
From cutting-edge therapies to case-based discussions, CMHC 2026 is designed to help clinicians bridge the gap between research and practice—empowering them to meet the growing complexity of patient needs.
Stay Ahead of What’s Next
Join us at CMHC 2026 to discover how the latest breakthroughs in cardiometabolic care are being applied to transform clinical practice and improve patient outcomes.
Registration will be opening soon—don’t miss your chance to be part of the conversation shaping the future of cardiometabolic care. Sign up for Event Alerts today to be the first to know about registration opening, programming updates, and more!
Sources:
https://www.acc.org/ACC2026#sort=%40commonsortdate%20descending
https://www.tctmd.com/news/whats-going-be-hot-acc-2026
https://www.radcliffecardiology.com/news/acc-26-announces-late-breaking-clinical-trial-sessions
https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.01.015
https://www.tctmd.com/news/oral-pcsk9-inhibitor-bests-other-nonstatin-therapies-ldl-lowering
https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2026/03/25/21/27/mon-1045am-coralreef-acc-2026
https://www.tctmd.com/news/olezarsen-doesnt-lower-plaque-volume-essence-timi-73b
https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Articles/2026/03/25/21/27/mon-830am-thrive-acc-2026
https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2026/03/25/21/27/sun-4pm-protavi-acc-2026
https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Articles/2026/03/25/21/27/sun-1045am-cadence-acc-2026
