What Happened At ASCO 2025?

The 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago showcased a surge of innovation in cancer research, presenting transformative clinical data across multiple tumor types. Highlights included groundbreaking advances in breast, colon, lung, and blood cancers, with novel antibody-drug conjugates. Practice-changing results were shared for treatments like AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi and Pfizer’s Braftovi, which demonstrated a doubling of survival in BRAF-mutated colon cancer.

Amid the scientific optimism, concern is growing over threats to the research ecosystem, including potential NIH budget cuts, policy-driven drug pricing reforms, and immigration restrictions jeopardizing the scientific workforce. ASCO leaders emphasized the urgent need for sustained federal support. Digital innovation also took center stage at ASCO. Medable launched a long-term follow-up model tailored to cell and gene therapy trials, addressing challenges in extended monitoring. Their expanded digital framework aims to accelerate oncology research while reducing burden on patients and sites. Ultimately, ASCO 2025 underscored both the momentum in oncology innovation and the critical need to protect the infrastructure that enables it—ensuring that tomorrow’s breakthroughs remain within reach for all patients.