For how we live.
I-SPY2.2 tested trastuzumab-deruxtecan plus rilvegostomig before surgery in high-risk HER2-negative breast cancer. In immune-positive tumours 54% had a complete response, and most of them avoided anthracyclines.
GSK's PD-1 blocker won accelerated US approval on 19 October for previously untreated stage II/III dMMR rectal cancer. In the single-arm AZUR-1 trial, most patients avoided surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
A Global Burden of Disease analysis finds the share of female breast-cancer deaths tied to high fasting plasma glucose rose from 1990 to 2023 and is projected to keep rising — but the design cannot prove causation.
In 120 older adults with acute myeloid leukaemia, adding midostaurin to two-drug therapy did not raise remission rates overall (72% vs 68%), but a small FLT3-mutated subgroup lived longer.
In 1,429 high-risk breast-cancer patients, a 16-dose regimen covering the internal mammary nodes matched the standard 25-dose course for recurrence and caused far less severe skin damage.
The FDA approved Tecentriq on 8 October, with chemotherapy, for Stage III mismatch repair deficient colon cancer after resection. In ATOMIC, adding it cut disease-free survival events, hazard ratio 0.50.
LOTIS-9 tested loncastuximab tesirine plus rituximab in unfit and frail older adults with untreated DLBCL. Complete responses reached 53% and 42%, but severe side effects, including 11 deaths, ended the trial early.
On 14 October the FDA extended nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln, with BCG, to BCG-unresponsive papillary-only disease - a first for that group - without a new trial, by extrapolating from its carcinoma-in-situ data.
In the phase 3 VERIFY trial, 77% of patients on the hepcidin-mimic drug avoided phlebotomy over weeks 20–32 versus 33% on placebo, and far more kept their haematocrit under control.
The pill joins trastuzumab and pertuzumab as maintenance after induction. In the 654-patient HER2CLIMB-05 trial it stretched median progression-free survival to 24.9 months from 16.3, a hazard ratio of 0.64.
The phase 3 RT CHARM trial found a three-week course of radiation after mastectomy was no worse than the standard five-week course for reconstruction complications, at 12.3% versus 10.2%.
RINGSIDE phase 2 tested three doses of oral varegacestat in 42 adults with progressing desmoid tumours. The lowest daily dose gave the deepest shrinkage and was carried into phase 3. No comparator arm.
In 221 male childhood-cancer survivors, FSH levels during puberty tracked adult testicular function. Radiotherapy damage persisted into adulthood, while alkylating-chemotherapy effects often recovered.
In a 28-patient single-arm phase 2 study, disitamab vedotin with tislelizumab produced a complete response in 73% of evaluable HER2-positive bladder cancers that could not be resected. There was no comparator.
ESO-T01 builds cancer-killing T cells inside the body, skipping the cell harvest and chemo prep normal CAR-T needs. All four responded — but the cells faded, and median progression-free survival was 4 months.
A final order codifies Class II status for high-throughput DNA sequencing systems that detect germline mutations in cancer genes, built on Invitae's panel. It becomes a predicate other makers can clear against.
A phase 1/2 trial gave mosunetuzumab plus polatuzumab to 101 older, unfit or frail people with untreated large B-cell lymphoma. The end-of-treatment response rate was 61.4%, with a complete response in 56.4%.
A single-arm phase 2 trial added glofitamab to pola-R-CHP in 41 people with newly diagnosed B-cell lymphoma. The best complete-response rate was 95%, cytokine release stayed grade 1, and no neurotoxicity was reported.
In the industry-funded evERA trial, giredestrant plus everolimus delayed progression of ER-positive breast cancer — but the clearest benefit was in ESR1-mutated tumours, and the endpoint was a surrogate, not survival.
In the phase 3 UKALL14 trial, one cycle of the T-cell drug nelarabine after induction was well tolerated but left event-free survival essentially unchanged in adults aged 25 to 65.
ROAM/EORTC-1308, an independent phase 3 trial, randomised 157 patients after complete brain-tumour removal; adjuvant radiotherapy improved five-year disease-free survival, but the benefit's confidence interval was wide.
Final results of the phase 3 IMpassion050 trial show adding the immunotherapy atezolizumab to standard HER2-targeted treatment did not improve event-free or disease-free survival.
The phase 3 CLL6 RESIDUUM trial extended progression-free survival by about 22 months in patients left with residual disease, but overall survival did not differ and the drug caused more infections.
In the Scandinavian phase 3 ASAC trial, daily aspirin failed to improve disease-free survival after treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastases — and overall survival was worse on the drug.
An IARC worldwide incidence analysis puts the infection-attributable share at 12%, led by H pylori and HPV, with eastern Asia carrying the heaviest load and most of the toll preventable.
Eli Lilly's oral Inluriyo gained an FDA efficacy supplement on 18 September. In the phase 3 EMBER-3 trial, adding abemaciclib lifted median progression-free survival to 9.4 months from 5.5.
BeiGene's PD-1 antibody, added to the HER2 drug zanidatamab and chemotherapy, lifted median overall survival to 26.4 months from 19.2 in the HERIZON-GEA-01 trial. The gain concentrated in the strongest HER2-expressers.
In the publicly funded SWOG S1600 trial, specialised immunonutrition before and after radical cystectomy left 30-day complication rates essentially unchanged: 62% versus 58% on a standard drink.
The academic MATRix/IELSG43 trial found autologous transplant lifted 3-year progression-free survival to 78% from 51%, but at the cost of more toxicity and more treatment-related deaths.
The publicly funded E4512 trial found two years of crizotinib after surgery did not prolong disease-free survival against observation, with a hazard ratio of 1.08 and no safety upside.
In the investigator-led Danish DALIAH trial, pegylated interferon-alfa and hydroxyurea produced similar molecular responses by intention-to-treat, but far more patients stopped interferon.
Cleared on 10 July under NDA 218579, the Provepharm agent fluoresces in near-infrared light to map vessels, perfusion and lymph nodes during surgery. Efficacy rests on studies of an earlier formulation.
Approved on 24 June under NDA 220436, the Avyxa Holdings product is a ready-to-infuse form of the NK-1 blocker fosaprepitant, cleared on studies of an earlier intravenous version of the drug.
Gilead's phase 3 trial in 539 patients was terminated after the CD47 antibody failed to improve remission or survival and caused more fatal adverse events than azacitidine alone.
The final analysis of Roche's phase 3 trial found the anti-TIGIT antibody did not significantly extend progression-free or overall survival when added to atezolizumab in 521 patients.
SOLARIS, a publicly funded phase 3 trial, tested vitamin D3 added to chemotherapy after a promising phase 2 signal. Progression-free survival was 11.8 versus 10.3 months — not a significant difference.
In the phase 3 SWOG/NRG S1914 trial, adding atezolizumab to stereotactic radiotherapy for high-risk, inoperable early lung cancer left 2-year survival at 82% in both groups and caused more serious side effects.
In the French GETUG AFU 18 trial an 80 Gy dose beat the standard 70 Gy on 10-year progression-free survival (83.6% vs 72.2%), but the advantage at the prespecified 5-year mark was far smaller.
In the 142,250-person NHS-Galleri trial, three rounds of screening did not reduce stage III or IV cancers versus usual care. A fall in stage IV cancers alone leaves the case unproven.
In 709 children with high-risk B-cell ALL, swapping two chemotherapy cycles for the T-cell-engaging antibody lifted four-year event-free survival to 83% from 70% and sharply cut serious infections.
LITESPARK-022 cut the risk of recurrence by 28% when belzutifan was added to pembrolizumab after surgery. Survival was no different, and severe side effects nearly doubled.
Adding the immunotherapy to perioperative chemotherapy improved overall survival in resectable gastric and junction cancer — crossing the significance line the interim analysis had missed.
In a phase 3 trial, tambotatug pelitecan extended median survival to 13.3 months versus 9.4 on standard chemotherapy — but the trial was open-label and run entirely in China.
Adding pembrolizumab plus maintenance olaparib to first-line chemotherapy improved progression-free survival — but pembrolizumab added without olaparib did nothing at all.
In a 15-patient phase 1 trial, TX103 cells delivered directly into the brain were tolerated and median survival reached 19.1 months — but this is early, single-arm evidence with no control group.
SERENA-6 changed therapy the moment a resistance mutation appeared in the blood, not when tumours grew. It nearly doubled time to progression — and won camizestrant FDA approval in 2026.
There are more than 18 million cancer survivors in the US, and finishing treatment is not the end of the health story. The strongest evidence for what helps is also the most ordinary.
In the 172-patient PARADIGM trial, azacitidine plus venetoclax more than doubled median event-free survival versus induction chemotherapy — but it was a phase 2 study not powered for overall survival.
A blood test after surgery can detect tumour DNA too faint to see on a scan. In one trial it let colon-cancer patients safely skip chemotherapy — but the evidence is still narrow.
In an early-phase trial of 136 previously treated patients, daraxonrasib produced responses in 31–37% depending on dose — but 54% had a serious side effect, and this is a phase 1–2 study.
In the NSABP B-59 trial, adding the immunotherapy to neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not significantly improve event-free survival, while immune-related side effects more than doubled.
Galleri-type tests can flag a cancer signal from a tube of blood and often guess its origin. But they miss most early-stage cancers, and no trial has yet shown they help people live longer.
In the single-arm EPCORE NHL-2 cohort, adding epcoritamab to rituximab and lenalidomide produced responses in 95% of 41 untreated follicular lymphoma patients, with no control group to prove added benefit.
Five-year follow-up of a Chinese randomised trial shows paclitaxel–cisplatin–capecitabine before chemoradiotherapy lifted failure-free survival from 63% to 78% in high-risk disease — at the cost of more toxicity.
In HERIZON-GEA-01, zanidatamab plus chemotherapy raised median progression-free survival to 12.4 months from 8.1 with trastuzumab. A clear survival gain came only when tislelizumab was added.
The committee that decides what Israel's national insurance covers added new cancer and depression drugs to the 2026 list — and turned down an early Alzheimer's treatment because of what it would have cost.
Zenbexus didn't have to outlive patients in a control arm to win approval — it had to clear their bone marrow of detectable disease faster. That shortcut is becoming the norm, not the exception.
A large US analysis attributed 42 percent of cancer cases to modifiable risk factors. One factor dwarfs all the others, and it is not diet.
Stage describes how far a cancer has spread at diagnosis. It is not the same as grade, it is set once, and it drives both prognosis and treatment more than almost any other number.
Five-fraction SBRT improved several quality-of-life measures but was not superior to longer IMRT for prostate cancer. Three-year disease-free survival was 88.6% with SBRT and 92.1% with IMRT.
The radioligand cut the risk of radiographic progression or death by 28% when added to standard therapy in a phase 3 trial — a real but incremental gain, bought with more side-effects.
In the phase 3 TORCH trial, following transarterial chemoembolisation with thermal ablation more than doubled median progression-free survival, to 17.7 months from 7.3, in unresectable liver-confined cancer.
The final HARMONi-A analysis reports a 2.7-month gain in median overall survival — 16.8 versus 14.1 months — for the PD-1/VEGF bispecific added to chemotherapy in a China-only phase 3 trial.
In KEYNOTE-B15/EV-304, perioperative enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab lifted two-year event-free survival to 79.4% from 66.2% against standard cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients fit for it.
A comparison of 2020–2025 approvals finds 94 novel oncology drugs from the NMPA against 87 from the FDA, with China's volume overtaking from 2023. The speed and first-in-class figures run the other way.
The targeted combination more than tripled progression-free survival versus placebo in iodine-refractory disease — but overall survival is not yet significant and the trial was mostly Asian.
In the phase 3 BRUIN CLL-322 trial, adding pirtobrutinib to a fixed course of venetoclax and rituximab raised 24-month progression-free survival to 87% from 72% in previously treated disease.
A comparison of FDA, EMA and ANVISA decisions from 2020 to 2024 finds Brazilian approvals arriving about a year later. A second study clocks the wait for public-system financing in years, not months.
In the MajesTEC-9 trial, the bispecific antibody teclistamab cut the risk of progression or death by 71% against standard three- and two-drug regimens. Serious infections were common.
In the phase 3 LIBRETTO-432 trial, adjuvant selpercatinib raised two-year event-free survival to 92% from 61% in resected stage II-IIIA RET fusion-positive lung cancer. The trial was small and survival is unproven.
In the phase 3 DRAGON-01 trial, delivering paclitaxel directly into the abdominal cavity on top of standard chemotherapy raised median survival to 19.4 months from 13.9 in gastric cancer with peritoneal spread.
Beqalzi (sonrotoclax) is approved for relapsed mantle-cell lymphoma after a BTK inhibitor. Just over half of 103 patients responded in a single-arm trial with no survival data.
In VERITAC-2 the oral degrader more than doubled progression-free survival over fulvestrant in patients with an ESR1 mutation — 5.0 months versus 2.1 — but not in the trial as a whole.
Bizengri now covers NRG1-fusion cholangiocarcinoma, a mutation found in a fraction of a fraction of cases. The evidence is 19 patients, of whom about a third responded.
The European Medicines Agency's March meeting produced five positive opinions, three of them for orphan-designated cancer and rare-disease treatments already available in some other markets.
In the phase 3 ATOMIC trial, atezolizumab on top of standard FOLFOX chemotherapy raised three-year disease-free survival to 86.3% from 76.2% after surgery for stage III dMMR colon cancer.
In the phase 3 PATCH trial, oestrogen skin patches were non-inferior to LHRH injections for three-year metastasis-free survival, with fewer hot flushes but more breast swelling.
In a Chinese phase 2–3 trial, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, lenvatinib and a PD-1 antibody before liver surgery lifted median event-free survival to 18.0 months from 8.7. The survival signal was not yet conclusive.
A three-year update of RATIONALE-309 found tislelizumab plus chemotherapy lengthened median progression-free survival to 9.6 months from 7.4. The overall-survival gain was not statistically significant on its own.
In KEYNOTE-905/EV-303, adding enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab to surgery lifted two-year event-free survival to 74.7% from 39.4%. Serious side effects were common.
In the phase 3 ASCENT-04 trial, sacituzumab govitecan with pembrolizumab lifted median progression-free survival to 11.2 months from 7.8 in PD-L1-positive disease. Survival data are immature.
Hyrnuo (sevabertinib) is cleared for previously treated HER2-mutant NSCLC on response rate alone. The confirmatory trial that must justify it does not report until 2029.