ASCO 2025 - Highlights

This is how Perplexity.ai summarizes ASO 2025:

Biggest Breakthroughs at ASCO 2025

ASCO 2025 featured a wide array of pivotal advances across cancer research and treatment. The most notable breakthroughs included:

Immunotherapy in Early-Stage Cancers

• Immunotherapies remained a dominant theme, with new data supporting their use not only in late-stage but also in early-stage cancers.

• A key highlight was AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) combined with chemotherapy for early-stage stomach cancer, which reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or progression by 29%. Patients receiving the combination had a 67.4% event-free survival rate at 24 months, compared to 58.5% in the placebo-chemotherapy group. This marks a new paradigm for treating early-stage and locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers2.

Paradigm Shift in Cancer Therapeutics

• Immunotherapy combinations, particularly with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, demonstrated significant improvements in overall and disease-free survival, especially in head and neck cancers—a tumor type with historically high relapse rates2.

• The integration of immunotherapy in pre- and post-surgical settings for early-stage cancers was emphasized as a strategy to improve survival and reduce recurrence2.

Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs)

• ADCs were a major focus, with next-generation ADCs showing enhanced efficacy and precision.

• AbbVie’s ADC ABBV-400, targeting MET in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), achieved a 63% monotherapy response rate in EGFR-mutant NSCLC2.

Cell Therapies

• CAR-T therapies continued to show promise. Legend Biotech’s CARVYKTI for relapsed refractory multiple myeloma demonstrated that 33% of patients remained progression-free for five years or more after a single infusion, with no maintenance therapy required—an unprecedented milestone for this disease2.

• Immatics’ cell therapy PRAME showed a 56% objective response rate in metastatic melanoma, and Kite Pharma’s CAR-T therapy met its primary endpoint in advanced B-cell lymphoma2.

AI and Digital Clinical Trials

• Medable introduced an AI-powered clinical trial model enabling remote monitoring and follow-up, potentially reducing the burden and cost of long-term follow-up required for cell and gene therapies2.

Novel Therapeutic Approaches

• CERo Therapeutics presented chimeric engulfment receptor (CER) T cells, a new cell therapy approach that combines targeted cytotoxicity with phagocytic clearance. Their preclinical candidate CER-1236 targets TIM-4 ligand, which is specific to malignant cells, offering a novel mechanism for tumor elimination2.

Major Clinical Trial Results

• In breast cancer, AstraZeneca’s camizestrant (a selective estrogen receptor degrader) reduced the risk of progression or death by 56% in HR-positive advanced breast cancer, extending median progression-free survival to 16 months compared to 9.2 months for the control group3.

• Gilead’s Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) combined with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) reduced disease progression risk by 35% in PD-L1-positive triple-negative breast cancer, extending median progression-free survival to 11.2 months versus 7.8 months for the standard regimen3.

• In gynecologic cancers, the phase 3 ROSELLA trial showed that relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel reduced the risk of progression or death by 30% in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, with improved overall survival5.

Supportive Care and Precision Oncology

• Advances in supportive care and precision medicine were also highlighted, with new biomarkers and liquid biopsy technologies improving patient stratification and treatment monitoring3.