Dr. Cathy Eng

ESMO 2026: GI abstracts I’m watching ESMO is a week away so time to post thoughts on studies that will either change practice, move the field forward or are thought provoking! Gut Onc Lab video next week once text is released. BELOW THE BELT AZUR-1: Dostarlimab for dMMR/MSI-H locally advanced rectal cancer (LBA87) When: Sun Oct 25, 11:00 CET. Lower GI Proffered Paper session. What: Stage II/III MSI-H rectal cancer (n=154) treated with dostarlimab alone. My take: This will be positive. Incredibly positive. This is already what I’m doing in clinical practice and is a massive step forward for the 5–10% of rectal cancer patients that are MSI-H. Yay. IROCAS: Adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX vs mFOLFOX6 in high-risk stage III colon cancer (LBA29) When: Sun Oct 25, 10:15 CET. Lower GI Proffered Paper session. What: Phase 3 of adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX vs mFOLFOX6 in T4 and/or N2 stage III colon cancer. My take: Important study, and honestly, it is going to predict if US-CIRCULATE will be positive. If this is negative, CIRCULATE will be a nail-biter. Encorafenib + cetuximab + FOLFIRI beyond progression in BRAF V600E mCRC (788RO) When: Sat Oct 24, 14:50 CEST. Lower GI Rapid Oral session. What: Continuing EC past progression, adding FOLFIRI, in BRAF V600E mCRC. My take: Already doing this in clinical practice with patients who have BRAF+ disease w/o resistance mechanism on ctDNA at progression. Data for its use is HUGELY welcome. CheckMate 8HW: Final overall survival (LBA32) When: Sat Oct 24, 15:42 CEST. Lower GI Rapid Oral session. What: Final OS for nivo/ipi vs nivo vs chemo in MSI-H metastatic CRC. My take: What happens when you do a trial with an agent that essentially cures a disease against another that cures most people? It is a really long damn trial. Excited for the final OS data. Will it be positive? TBD, but I certainly think the magnitude of benefit of dual IO makes it better than single agent, and this data could reinforce that practice. UNION: Short-course RT → camrelizumab + CAPOX in locally advanced rectal cancer (3530O) When: Sun Oct 25, 11:10 CET. Lower GI Proffered Paper session. What: Phase 3 of SCRT → camrelizumab + CAPOX vs long-course CRT → CAPOX in locally advanced rectal cancer. My take: pCR reported at ~40% in 2024, let’s see if more people were cured. Some criticism in changing radiation schedule and adding IO compared to standard, but will set the stage for future studies. EMT2: Omega-3 EPA after resection of colorectal liver metastases (LBA30) When: Sun Oct 25, 10:25 CET. Lower GI Proffered Paper session. What: Phase 3, double-blind, EPA vs placebo after CRLM resection. My take: It’s like fish oil but better. File this in the ALASCCA category of “costs nothing, helps people” if positive. ALASCCA + CHALLENGE ❤️ QTX3034 + cetuximab ± mFOLFOX6 in KRAS G12D CRC (790RO) When: Sat Oct 24, 15:15 CEST. Lower GI Rapid Oral session. What: Early data on an oral G12D-preferring KRAS inhibitor + cetuximab ± mFOLFOX6 in KRAS G12D mCRC. My take: Sick study. Moving us to molecularly driven treatments in earlier line settings for CRC. Where the field MUST move. If this isn’t positive I will eat a hat (a small one, preferably organic). BOT/BAL in the real world: refractory MSS mCRC and advanced sarcoma (905eP, 3771P) When: 905eP is an ePoster available throughout the meeting. 3771P is Mon Oct 26, 12:00 CET, sarcoma poster session. What: Real-world botensilimab + balstilimab in refractory MSS mCRC (AGEO, France) and advanced sarcoma (Spanish expanded access). My take: Gives us a look at Bot Bal in real world. Important data, multiple attempts to use CPI in advanced disease have provided mixed results, what happens when we use stronger agents? Runner-up: Biweekly vs conventional TAS-102 + bevacizumab in refractory mCRC (LBA31) When: Sat Oct 24, 15:37 CEST. Lower GI Rapid Oral session. What: Randomized comparison of biweekly vs standard-schedule TAS-102 + bev in refractory mCRC. My take: Runner up only because @cathyengmd already convincingly showed this is the dosing schedule we should be using. I already use this in clinical practice. Great to randomize but should be positive. UPPER GI CLARITY-Gastric01 + G-HOPE-001: CLDN18.2 ADCs in pretreated gastric/GEJ cancer (LBA7, LBA77) When: CLARITY-Gastric01 is Sun Oct 25, 17:18 CET, Presidential Symposium II. G-HOPE-001 is Fri Oct 23, 13:30 CEST, Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Two phase 3s of CLDN18.2 ADCs vs physician’s choice. Sone-Ve (CLARITY) was positive for OS, and arcotatug tavatecan (G-HOPE) was positive for PFS. My take: The next generation of CLDN18.2 is here. Expect less explosive emesis and improved outcomes. KEYNOTE-975: Pembrolizumab + definitive chemoradiotherapy in esophageal/GEJ cancer (2875O) When: Fri Oct 23, 13:50 CEST. Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Phase 3 of pembro vs placebo with definitive chemoradiation in esophageal/GEJ cancer. My take: Merck joins the D-FLOT era for patients still receiving definitive chemoRT. After the CROSS/FLOT study the impact of this is going to be less, but still important for patients receiving definitive chemoRT. HERIZON-GEA-01: Zanidatamab + chemo ± tislelizumab in 1L HER2+ GEA, second interim (LBA79) When: Fri Oct 23, 16:15 CEST. Upper GI Rapid Oral session. What: Second interim of zanidatamab + chemo ± tislelizumab vs trastuzumab + chemo in 1L HER2+ GEA. My take: My practice in HER2+ upper GI/GEA has moved to Zani, will be helpful to see the longer-term outcomes here. SANO: Active surveillance vs surgery after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer, long-term results (LBA78) When: Fri Oct 23, 13:40 CEST. Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Long-term outcomes of active surveillance vs esophagectomy after nCRT in esophageal cancer. My take: People deserve to keep their organs. Our ability to offer this only improves when we layer in tools like ctDNA. Interested in what we can extrapolate to other organ systems (especially for MSI-H). PANCREAS RASolute 302: Daraxonrasib vs chemotherapy in previously treated mPDAC, subgroup analyses (LBA82) When: Fri Oct 23, 14:22 CEST. Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Additional subgroup analyses from the phase 3 of daraxonrasib vs chemo in 2L+ metastatic PDAC. My take: Everyone benefited. G12V more than others. Maybe there will be another standing ovation? Come for the science, stay for the clapping. AMPLIFY-7P: mKRAS vaccine ELI-002 7P vs observation in resected PDAC (LBA83) When: Fri Oct 23, 14:32 CEST. Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Randomized phase 2 of an off-the-shelf mKRAS vaccine vs observation after PDAC resection. It missed its DFS endpoint. My take: Vaccine therapies are the next frontier. Merck has pushed them forward in Melanoma where they are an amazing success, very interested in the randomized data here. Even if negative it will be critical data to learn from. HCC / BILIARY HARMONi-GI1: Ivonescimab vs durvalumab + GemCis in 1L biliary tract cancer (LBA8) When: Sun Oct 25, 17:42 CET. Presidential Symposium II. What: China-only phase 3 of a PD-1/VEGF bispecific vs durvalumab, both with GemCis. It was positive for OS. My take: PD-1/VEGF emerges in GI. Let’s see the benefit. China only. ACTICCA-1: Adjuvant gemcitabine + cisplatin after resected biliary tract cancer (LBA21) When: Sat Oct 24, 10:25 CEST. Upper GI Proffered Paper session. What: Phase 3 of adjuvant GemCis vs standard of care (capecitabine) after resection of cholangiocarcinoma or gallbladder cancer. My take: Might immediately change the standard of care for resected BTC. Worth tuning in for. @TheGutOncLab @Onco_Nexus @OncoAlert @oncodaily

RASolute 302 highlighted as a #OncoAlertTopTweet for Day 3 of #ASCO26. 🚨 @ASCO @CathyEngMD @OncoAlert A major moment for previously treated metastatic #PancreaticCancer — where survival gains have been urgently needed for years. 🧬 Key takeaways: ✅ Daraxonrasib is the first RAS-targeted therapy to show a clinically meaningful survival advantage over standard chemotherapy ✅ RAS targeting may now be entering a new therapeutic era in pancreatic cancer ✅ The next questions are sequencing, toxicity, access, and how quickly this can translate into real-world care This is exactly the kind of data that can shift the field from “RAS is undruggable” to “RAS is actionable.” 🩺 #GIOncology #PancreaticCancer #OncoAlert

RASolute 302 tomorrow which remains the highlight of metastatic/unresectable pancreatic cancer space. @OncBrothers @rachnatshroff @CathyEngMD @GIcancerDoc Summing the last session with a frenzy for plenary tomorrow https://t.co/aizyzlm3LC

🙏🏻TY @AACR for inviting me to speak on the inaugural #earlyonset #colorectalcancer and #survivorship (starts the day you are diagnosed not just 5 yrs out). Listed below is a platform for discovery to help our #EOCRC patients TODAY! #CancerResearch #cancer #AACR2026 #chatGPT https://t.co/8BpyzbJZcY

TEMAB-A (ABBV-400) is an ADC focused on on cmet with topo 1 payload in a ph I trial of ABBV-400 + bev vs. TAS-102 + bev in previously treated metastatic #colorectal #cancer. @OncoAlert @oncodaily #ESMO2026 Median follow-up: 18.2 M Median OS 14.7M and HR = 0.62 Proceeding onto Ph 3 trial: NCT06614192 @Cecchini_OncMD

It’s that time of year where some of the best #CancerResearch will be presented at #Chicago 👏. It’s our annual @ASCO #ASCO26 meeting. Windy day but beautiful. Needed to go for my annual #run 🏃‍♀️#personalhealth @VUMCDiscoveries @VUMChealth #cancer https://t.co/f06TShlxyO

The way I LOVE to start a #cancerresearch meeting a #5K #walk #run! @AACR #AACR2026 Recovering from URI but I couldn’t help myself! Luv 🏃‍♀️!! @VUMC_Discoveries @VUMC_Health #selfcare #runningaddict #cancer https://t.co/ZFgDEHA6me

Pls join us on Sunday @AACR 4/19 1PM for the session on #Earlyonset #cancer #AACR2026 @VUMCDiscoveries @MSKCancerCenter @ChildrensPhila #patientcare #colorectalcancer #CancerCare https://t.co/SHspmjy78S