ASCO 2026 and New Studies Highlight Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy

Researchers from City of Hope will present 49 abstracts spanning solid tumors and blood cancers at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago, May 29 to June 2. Among the featured studies, a combined analysis of two randomized phase 1 trials showed that adding CBM588, a live biotherapeutic designed to modulate the gut microbiome, to standard immune checkpoint inhibitor regimens improved outcomes in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Across the combined dataset, patients who received CBM588 with immunotherapy achieved an objective response rate of 66.7% versus 20% with standard therapy alone, and median progression-free survival improved to 32.1 months versus 3.7 months. Using the metagenomic measure TOPOSCORE, researchers found that patients with a more disrupted microbiome saw the greatest benefit, with progression-free survival increasing from 2.8 months to 24.9 months. A randomized phase 3 trial is underway to further evaluate this strategy.

Updated data from the phase 3 SUNMO trial also presented at ASCO showed that the combination of mosunetuzumab, a bispecific antibody, and polatuzumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate, improves outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma who are not eligible for autologous stem cell transplant. With a median follow-up of more than two years, the combination demonstrated an objective response rate of 70.3% compared with 40.0% for standard chemotherapy with rituximab, gemcitabine and oxaliplatin, along with a significant reduction in the risk of disease progression. Among patients treated in the second-line setting, the combination produced higher response rates, deeper remissions and longer duration of response.

A retrospective study of 223 patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, presented at the 2026 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, showed that the timing of the first immune checkpoint inhibitor cycle had a strong impact on survival. Patients treated before 11:00 AM experienced a median cancer-specific survival of 71 months versus 34 months for later treatment, with a 12% increase in the risk of cancer-specific mortality for each 1-hour increase in time of day. Multivariable analysis confirmed that first-cycle time of day was an independent predictor of survival after accounting for age, IMDC risk, ICI type, and metastatic sites.

Two studies published in Blood by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bristol Myers Squibb, and the University of Oxford found that mezigdomide, a cereblon E3 ligase modulator, can reinvigorate exhausted T cells in multiple myeloma. Analyses of bone marrow samples from patients with relapsed disease showed that treatment with mezigdomide significantly reduced populations of dysfunctional T cells expressing exhaustion markers including PD-1 and TIGIT, while enhancing the tumor-killing activity of both CAR-T cells and bispecific T cell engagers in preclinical models. The drug works by targeting and degrading the transcription factors IKZF1 (Ikaros) and IKZF3 (Aiolos), which were identified as central regulators of T cell dysfunction. Early-phase clinical trials evaluating mezigdomide with T cell-based therapies are underway.

In the phase II ATOMICC trial, maintenance dostarlimab after definitive chemoradiation in high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer showed an encouraging signal, with a 3-year progression-free survival of 77% versus 67% (HR 0.64) compared with observation. No overall survival benefit has been observed yet, and toxicity was manageable. The investigators noted the results are not practice-changing yet but support further exploration of maintenance immunotherapy after chemoradiation in cervical cancer.

A retrospective single-center study of 32 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with immunotherapy, published in Research and Reports in Urology, found that cytoreductive nephrectomy (performed in 78% of patients) was associated with longer progression-free survival (9 vs 3 months; HR 3.72) and overall survival (21 vs 3 months; HR 4.03). A post-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio below 2.44 predicted improved progression-free survival (median 17 vs 7 months), and the Meet-URO score showed superior prognostic value for overall survival compared with the IMDC score. The authors called the findings exploratory and hypothesis-generating.

In a panel discussion on advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, experts weighed long-term survival and quality of life with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. They noted that the IMbrave150 trial lacks the mature landmark survival data now available for tremelimumab plus durvalumab, but that the robust response rates with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab make it attractive for patients with bulky tumor burden who need rapid disease control. Panelists emphasized that most patients are treated with palliative intent, making quality of life and tolerability central considerations, and cited the convenience of every-four-week durvalumab dosing and the reassurance provided by 5-year survival and ALBI-stratified data.