Elizabeth Smyth, MD, on New Data in Gastric/Gastroesophageal Cancers
ASCO 2026
Elizabeth Smyth, MD, of Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Churchill Hospital, discusses three major studies presented at this year’s meeting: the antibody-drug conjugate izalontamab brengitecan in recurrent or metasatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (Abstract 4008); the ATTRACTION-6 study of chemoimmunotherapy in HER2-negative advanced gastric/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer (Abstract 4006); and an investigational EP4 antagonist in combination with chemoimmunotherapy as a first-line strategy for HER2-negative gastric/GEJ cancer (Abstract 4007).
Lorenza Rimassa, MD, of IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, and David James Pinato, MD, PhD, of Imperial College London, discuss positive phase III findings in intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with immunotherapy-based combinations with TACE, second-line data from IMbrave251, and novel targeted and bispecific antibody therapies.
The ASCO Post Staff
Bjorn Henning Gronberg, MD, PhD, of St. Olav’s Hospital, discusses findings from a phase III trial of concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) plus platinum/etoposide chemotherapy and the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (Abstract LBA8005).
The ASCO Post Staff
Veronica Diermayr, PhD, of EDDC and A*STAR, discusses the use of artificial intelligence (AI) driven strategy called H&E 2.0 in gastric and esophageal cancer. Researchers tested the feasibility of training deep-learning models on hematoxylin and eosin images of gastroesophageal carcinomas and their ability to predict EBC-129 antigen expression directly from these images. EBC-129 is an experimental antibody-drug conjugate that targets N256-glycosylated CEACAM5/6, which is highly expressed on solid tumors, including gastroesophageal cancers (Abstract 4018).
Mohammed Al-Jumayli, MD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses the effects of the use of a multimodal, digitally supported prehabilitation program among adults aged 65 years and older undergoing surgery for hepatobiliary cancer; the model was associated with favorable short-term functional performance signals and high levels of engagement (Abstract 12039).
The ASCO Post Staff
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, provides an update focusing on progression-free survival after next line of treatment and subsequent therapies among patients enrolled in the ASCENT-03 trial. The study compared sacituzumab govitecan vs chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract 1001).
