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ASCO 2025 Preview
An Expert’s Guide to ASCO 2025: Preview of the Top Abstracts

Released: May 29, 2025

Expiration: November 28, 2025

James M. Cleary
James M. Cleary, MD, PhD
Patrick Forde
Patrick Forde, MD, PhD
Kevin Kalinsky
Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, FASCO
Daniel P. Petrylak
Daniel P. Petrylak, MD
Zofia Piotrowska
Zofia Piotrowska, MD, MHS
Sara M. Tolaney
Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH
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The 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting will feature significant results from numerous clinical studies in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. As part of CCO’s Independent Conference Coverage of ASCO 2025, experts have identified their most anticipated abstracts, as listed below. Remember to check the CCO website often as the meeting unfolds for downloadable slidesets summarizing the data from these studies and more. After the meeting, join us for our live, interactive “Conference to Clinic” webinars on Saturday, June 21, as experts discuss some of the most important data presented during ASCO 2025 and how they plan to change their practice as well as answer your questions.

Top Picks: Breast Cancer
Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, FASCO, and Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, identified the following as top breast cancer abstracts to watch.

  • DESTINY-Breast09: interim data from a randomized phase III study of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) plus pertuzumab vs taxane plus trastuzumab plus pertuzumab (THP) as first-line therapy for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer (abstract LBA1008).
  • SERENA-6: data from a randomized, double-blind phase III study of camizestrant (a novel selective estrogen receptor degrader) plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor for patients with advanced hormone receptor (HR)–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer with emergent ESR1 mutations during first-line endocrine therapy prior to disease progression (abstract LBA4).
  • ASCENT-04/KEYNOTE-D19: primary data from a randomized phase III study of sacituzumab govitecan plus pembrolizumab vs chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab as first-line therapy for patients with advanced PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer (abstract LBA109).
  • VERITAC-2: data from a randomized phase III study of vepdegestrant (a PROTAC estrogen receptor degrader) vs fulvestrant for patients with advanced estrogen receptor (ER)–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer (abstract LBA1000).
  • INAVO120: final OS data from a phase III trial of inavolisib or placebo plus palbociclib and fulvestrant as first-line therapy for patients with advanced PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive/HER2-negative, endocrine-resistant breast cancer (abstract 1003).
  • OASIS-4: data from a randomized phase III trial of elinzanetant (a neurokinin-1 and -3 receptor antagonist) vs placebo for treating vasomotor symptoms in patients being treated for or at high risk of developing HR-positive breast cancer receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy (abstract 508).
  • EA1181/CompassHER2 pCR: pCR data from a single-arm trial of neoadjuvant THP for patients with stage II/III HER2-positive breast cancer (abstract 501).
  • OptiTROP-Breast05: data from a phase II study of sacituzumab tirumotecan (a novel TROP2 antibody–drug conjugate) as first-line therapy for unresectable locally advanced/metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (abstract 1019).
  • neoCARHP: data from a randomized phase III trial of de-escalated neoadjuvant taxane plus trastuzumab and pertuzumab with or without carboplatin for patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer (abstract LBA500).

Additional studies to watch in breast cancer:

  • EMBER-3: patient-reported outcomes from a randomized phase III study of imlunestrant with or without abemaciclib vs standard endocrine monotherapy for patients with advanced ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer that recurred or progressed during or after aromatase inhibitor therapy (with or without a CDK4/6 inhibitor) (abstract 1001).
  • NATALEE: subgroup analysis by menopausal status and age from a randomized phase III study of ribociclib plus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (NSAI) vs an NSAI alone for patients with stage II/III HR-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence (abstract 516).
  • ELEVATE: updated data of elacestrant with ribociclib or everolimus from a phase Ib/II study in patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (abstract 1070).

Top Picks: Lung Cancer
Zofia Piotrowska, MD, MHS, and Patrick Forde, MD, PhD, identified the following as top lung cancer abstracts to watch.

Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

  • SACHI: randomized phase III study of savolitinib combined with osimertinib vs chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutant and MET-amplification advanced NSCLC that progressed on EGFR TKI (abstract LBA8505).
  • NeoADAURA: a global, randomized phase III study evaluating neoadjuvant osimertinib with or without chemotherapy in patients with resectable EGFR-mutated NSCLC (abstract 8001).
  • SAVANNAH: results from a randomized phase II study subset evaluating the efficacy of savolitinib with or without osimertinib in patients with EGFR-mutated and MET overexpression/amplification advanced NSCLC with progression on first-line osimertinib (abstract 8513).
  • REZILIENT1: primary data from a phase IIb study of zipalertinib in patients with EGFR exon20 insertion–mutant advanced NSCLC that had progressed on previous platinum-based chemotherapy with or without amivantamab (abstract 8503).
  • ALNEO: final analysis from a phase II trial of alectinib as perioperative therapy in patients with potentially resectable advanced, stage III, ALK-positive NSCLC (abstract 8015).
  • HERTHENA-Lung02: results from a randomized, open-label phase III study of patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) vs platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC that progressed on third-generation TKI (abstract 8506).
  • TROPION-Lung02: primary analyses from a phase I study evaluating datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) plus pembrolizumab with or without platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC (abstract 8501).
  • Beamion LUNG-1: patient-reported outcomes, NSCLC-related symptoms, physical functioning, and symptomatic adverse events from a phase Ia/b study of zongertinib, an irreversible HER2-targeting EGFR-sparing TKI, in patients with HER2-mutant advanced NSCLC (abstract 8620).

Small-Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

  • Phase II trial evaluating efficacy of atezolizumab following chemoradiotherapy in patients with limited-stage SCLC (abstract LBA8005).
  • IMforte: primary results from a phase III study evaluating lurbinectedin plus atezolizumab as first-line maintenance therapy in patients with extensive-stage SCLC (abstract 8006).

Top Picks: Gastrointestinal Cancers
For GI cancers, James M. Cleary, MD, PhD, identified the following as top abstracts in gastrointestinal cancers to watch.

  • Alliance A021502; ATOMIC: data from a randomized phase III trial of atezolizumab or placebo plus combination chemotherapy for adjuvant treatment of stage III deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer (abstract LBA1).
    • PD-1–directed therapy is the standard of care for metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). However, a key unresolved question is whether adding PD-1–directed therapy could improve the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage III CRC. The ATOMIC trial addressed this question by randomizing patients with stage III microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) CRC to receive either adjuvant FOLFOX alone or adjuvant FOLFOX in combination with atezolizumab.
  • MATTERHORN: efficacy data from a randomized phase III trial of durvalumab or placebo in combination with FLOT chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting of resectable gastric or gastroesophageal cancer (abstract LBA5).
    • Gastroesophageal cancer is an aggressive malignancy with a high recurrence rate, and effective therapeutic strategies to reduce recurrences are greatly needed. Perioperative FLOT chemotherapy is the current standard of care for patients with resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. However, a key question is whether adding immune checkpoint blockade could further improve outcomes. The MATTERHORN trial investigated this question by randomizing patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer to receive perioperative FLOT chemotherapy either with or without durvalumab.
  • BREAKWATER: data updates from an open-label, multicenter, randomized phase III trial of first-line encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without chemotherapy vs standard of care in patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic CRC (abstract LBA3500).
  • CheckMate 8HW: expanded analysis data from a randomized phase III trial of nivolumab monotherapy, nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab, or investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with MSI-H/dMMR metastatic CRC (abstract 3501).
  • ANCHOR: data from a multicenter, prospective, randomized phase III trial of first-line anlotinib vs bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with wtRAS/BRAF unresectable metastatic CRC (abstract LBA3502).
  • DYNAMIC-III: data from a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled phase II/III trial to evaluate the use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to guide chemotherapy escalation in patients with stage III colon cancer (abstract 3503).
  • Alliance N0147: data from postsurgical ctDNA analysis and patient outcomes of trial participants with colon cancer who received FOLFOX alone or in combination with cetuximab (abstract 3504).
  • CodeBreaK 101: updated safety and efficacy data from the phase Ib trial of sotorasib in combination with panitumumab and FOLFIRI in patients with KRAS G12C–mutated metastatic CRC with at least 1 prior systemic treatment that was not a KRAS G12C inhibitor (abstract 3506).
  • CheckMate 577: overall survival data from a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial of nivolumab following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in resected esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancers (abstract 4000).
  • DESTINY-Gastric04: data from a multicenter, randomized, open-label phase III trial of second-line T-DXd or ramucirumab and paclitaxel in HER2-postitive metastatic/unresectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (abstract LBA4002).
  • CT041-ST-01: data from a multicenter, randomized phase Ib/II trial of satricabtagene autoleucel (satri-cel), a claudin18.2 (CLDN18.2)-targeting CAR T-cell, or treatment of physician’s choice in patients with CLDN18.2-positive, advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer who failed at least 2 prior lines of therapy (abstract 4003).
  • Data from a randomized phase III trial of short-course vs long-course preoperative chemotherapy with PAXG or mFOLFIRINOX in patients with stage I-III pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (abstract LBA4004).
  • Preliminary data from a randomized phase I/II trial of elraglusib, a first-in-class GSK-3β inhibitor, plus gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel vs gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel alone in patients with treatment-naive metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (abstract 4006).
  • POLCAGB: data from an open-label, randomized phase III comparative trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy vs chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced gallbladder cancers (abstract 4007).
  • GAIN: data from an international, open-label, randomized phase III trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin followed by radical liver resection or immediate radical liver resection and adjuvant therapy in patients with biliary tract cancer (abstract 4008).

Top Picks: Genitourinary Cancer
Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, identified the following as top genitourinary cancers abstracts to watch.

  • Metacure: results from the multiarm phase II trial of stereotactic body radiotherapy with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and androgen receptor pathway inhibitor hormonal blockade for patients with oligometastatic prostate adenocarcinoma. This study could be practice changing as it demonstrates that a short course of ADT plus radiotherapy can delay radiographic and prostate-specific antigen disease progression with rapid testosterone recovery (abstract 5014).
  • ARCHES: 5-year updated overall survival results of a randomized, global phase III trial of enzalutamide plus ADT vs placebo plus ADT for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. This final report is consistent with interim analysis and demonstrates that enzalutamide plus ADT is superior to ADT alone (abstract 5005).
  • JAVELIN Bladder Medley: interim analysis of the phase II testing avelumab plus sacituzumab govitecan vs avelumab monotherapy as first-line maintenance therapy after platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (abstract 4501).
  • NIAGARA: an exploratory analysis of how ctDNA is associated with outcomes of the phase III trial that showed an efficacy benefit for adding perioperative durvalumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (abstract 4503).

Additional Study to Watch in Genitourinary Cancer Include:

  • EV-302: an exploratory analysis of patients with untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had complete responses in a randomized, global phase III trial of enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab vs chemotherapy (abstract 4502).

Additional Studies to Watch in Leukemias and Lymphomas Include:

  • ASC2ESCALATE: interim analysis of the efficacy and safety results from the open-label, multicohort, single-arm phase II trial of asciminib monotherapy in the cohort of patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP) who have previously received 1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (abstract 6516).
  • ASC4START: time to treatment discontinuation because of adverse events in the open-label, randomized phase IIIb study of asciminib vs nilotinib for patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive CML-CP (abstract 6501).
  • HOVON-902: data from a national, multicenter, real-world validation study of the prognostic value of ctDNA measurable residual disease in patients with first-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at the end of treatment using phased variant enrichment and detection sequencing (abstract 7000).
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