Richard Cathomas, MD, on MIBC: Perioperative Intravesical Recombinant BCG Combined With Chemoimmunotherapy
ASCO 2026
Richard Cathomas, MD, of Cantonal Hospital Graubünden, reviews results from the primary analysis of SAKK 06/19, an open-label single arm phase II trial, which found that the combination of intravesical recombinant bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) with atezolizumab, cisplatin, and gemcitabine was feasible and safe without unexpected toxicities and demonstrates promising efficacy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) (Abstract 4503).
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.
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).
The ASCO Post Staff
Krishnan R. Patel, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses a combined analysis of the NRG/RTOG 9202, 9413, 9902, and 0521 trials that looked at using clinico-transcriptomic risk stratification to guide abiraterone treatment intensification among patients with high-risk prostate cancer (Abstract 5000).
The ASCO Post Staff
Manali Kamdar, MD, of the University of Colorado, discusses a rapid oral abstract session that highlighted three trends in the field of lymphomas: improving outcomes in frontline diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, continued development of cellular therapies, and expanding molecular profiling.
Daniel A. Ermann, MD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, reviews data from a retrospective analysis that compared the real-world effectiveness of monotherapy first-line treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) based on overall survival and time to next treatment (Abstract 7045).
