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Commentary

News from the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting

brought to you by Anne Mette Buhl, PhD, OCRA’s senior director of treatment access and scientific education

 

The 2026 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology took place in Chicago, IL from May 29-June 1, 2026. The 2026 meeting centered on the theme “The Science and Practice of Translation: Improving Cancer Outcomes Worldwide.” Here are some of the key findings presented for gynecologic cancers.

NRG-GY018 and RUBY Trials: Long-term results show continued benefit of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy with first-line chemotherapy in advanced endometrial cancer

Long-term results from the NRG-GY018 and RUBY clinical trials continue to show that adding immunotherapy to standard chemotherapy as the first treatment for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer helps patients live longer and keeps the cancer under control for longer. The greatest benefit is seen in patients whose tumors are deficient in mismatch repair (dMMR), but patients with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) tumors also experienced a meaningful improvement in survival. Importantly, the NRG-GY018 study showed that starting immunotherapy together with chemotherapy worked better than waiting to give immunotherapy later, even though most patients in the chemotherapy-only group eventually received it. Together, these studies strengthen immunotherapy plus chemotherapy as the standard first-line treatment for advanced endometrial cancer.

 

Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) continue to show promising results in gynecologic cancers

ASCO featured many encouraging presentations of clinical trials evaluating antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), a type of targeted cancer treatment that delivers chemotherapy directly to cancer cells. In ovarian cancer, new ADCs including TUB-040 (targeting NaPi2b) and Temab-A (targeting c-Met) showed promising early results. Researchers also reported that the approved ADC mirvetuximab soravtansine (Elahere) can be safely combined with carboplatin chemotherapy. In endometrial cancer, Puxi-Sam (targeting B7-H4) continued to demonstrate encouraging activity, while in cervical cancer, early results with the nectin-4-targeted ADC CRB-701 were also promising. Although ADCs are already becoming an important part of gynecologic cancer treatment, important questions remain, including whether biomarker testing will be needed to identify the patients most likely to benefit, how best to combine ADCs with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and how to use multiple ADCs over the course of treatment.

 

The newly approved combination of relacorilant (Lyfiorli) and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer benefits patients regardless of prior taxane treatment

In the ROSELLA study, patients treated with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel lived longer than those who received nab-paclitaxel alone, regardless of their previous exposure to taxane chemotherapy. The benefit was seen in patients whose last taxane treatment was within six months as well as in those whose last taxane treatment had been more than six months earlier. While some of these smaller patient groups included fewer people and the results were therefore less certain, the overall findings were consistent. This suggests that previous taxane treatment does not reduce the benefit of adding relacorilant to nab-paclitaxel.

 

IMA203CD8: A promising new T-cell therapy for advanced ovarian cancer

Early results from an early clinical trial of IMA203CD8, a personalized immune cell therapy, showed encouraging results in patients with advanced ovarian cancer who had already received several previous treatments. This treatment uses a patient's own immune cells, which are modified to recognize and attack cancer cells carrying a protein called PRAME that is found in many ovarian cancers. Several patients saw their tumors shrink, and the side effects were generally manageable, although patients needed careful monitoring during treatment. While these results are still early, they suggest that personalized immune cell therapies may become an important future treatment option for ovarian cancer.

 

Short-term fasting may help reduce chemotherapy side effects and improve treatment outcomes in ovarian cancer

Researchers presented results from a small clinical study evaluating short-term fasting around chemotherapy in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Patients who fasted for 36 hours before and 24 hours after each chemotherapy treatment, while eating normally between treatments, had lower insulin levels, fewer side effects from treatment, and a better quality of life than patients who followed a regular diet. The study also suggested that short-term fasting may help chemotherapy work better and may help patients live longer without their cancer growing. While these early results are encouraging, larger studies are needed before short-term fasting can be recommended as part of standard cancer care.

For more updates, listen to OCRA’s webinar: Latest Gynecologic Treatment Advances from SGO, ASCO and ESMO Gyn, Spring 2026 that was released on June 24th, 2026.

 

What You Can Do

  • Ask about immunotherapy: If you have advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer, ask your doctor whether immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy is appropriate for you and whether your tumor has been tested for MMR status.
  • Learn about biomarker testing: Some emerging treatments being tested in clinical trials, including personalized T-cell therapies, require specific biomarkers. Ask your doctor if you have received biomarker testing that may help identify future treatment options.
  • Consider clinical trials: Many promising new therapies are being studied in clinical trials. Ask your healthcare team whether there may be a study that is appropriate for your situation.
  • Talk to your care team before making dietary changes: While short-term fasting appears promising, patients should not fast during cancer treatment without guidance from their oncology team or a registered dietitian.