ASCO 2025: Breakthroughs Reshape Cancer Care

Immunotherapy-Enhancing 'Smart Drugs' Show Promise

GRWD5769, an experimental tablet, works by removing the 'invisibility cloaks' from tumor cells, allowing the immunotherapy drug cemiplimab to detect and destroy them. In a multinational trial across the UK, France, Spain, and Australia involving 83 patients with advanced cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung, or head and neck cancers, the results were notable:

Tumors shrank in 26 patients; 15 had reductions of at least 30%.

Ivonescimab, another smart drug that blocks tumors' immune evasion, extended lung cancer patient survival by 15% on average when combined with chemotherapy.

Ozekibart mimics a natural protein to trigger cancer cell death by binding to specific receptors. In bowel cancer patients, it shrank tumors and halted progression in some.

Prof. Fiona Thistlethwaite, a trial investigator, remarked: 'For a drug that is given as a tablet, this is very impressive.'

A Pill for Pancreatic Cancer: Doubling Survival

Daraxonrasib, a daily pill for pancreatic cancer that has spread, delivered dramatic results. In a trial of 500 patients, it doubled survival time to an average of 13.2 months, compared to 6.6–6.7 months with chemotherapy—and with fewer side effects.

Dr. Rachna Shroff of the University of Arizona Cancer Center called these results 'landscape-changing.'

Multiple Myeloma: New Hope for Incurable Blood Cancer

Mezigdomide was added to existing treatments for multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Patients on this triple therapy lived more than twice as long without disease progression. The drug works by degrading proteins essential for cancer cell survival while stimulating immune response.

Avoiding Chemotherapy: Smarter, Targeted Approaches

Breast Cancer: The Optima Trial
A genomic test identified breast cancer patients who could safely skip chemotherapy. The trial followed 4,000 patients across multiple countries; those with low genomic scores were treated with hormone therapy alone, sparing them the harsh side effects of chemotherapy.

Bladder Cancer: Durvalumab
Adding the immunotherapy drug durvalumab to chemotherapy and radiotherapy reduced recurrence risk and allowed patients to avoid the need for surgery.

Cancer Screening: A Setback and a Looming Crisis

The Galleri Blood Test
A multi-cancer early detection test failed to meet its primary endpoint of reducing late-stage diagnoses in a trial of 142,000 NHS patients, highlighting the challenges of screening.

The Workforce Crisis
Experts predict a shortage of 100 million cancer care workers by 2050. Cancer incidence is expected to increase 21% from 2025 to 2050, reaching 200 per 100,000 people, with 35.3 million annual diagnoses. Prevention and workforce action are urgently needed.

Dr. Peter Kingham of Memorial Sloan Kettering noted: 'Cancer is fundamentally a disease of ageing.'