Shifting the Standard: Key Insights from ASCO 2025 That Could Change Clinical Practice

Each June, the latest cancer research is presented at the largest oncology conference in the world, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. This conference brings together doctors, researchers, industry leaders, and patient advocates to share groundbreaking results that shape the future of cancer care. A team of clinicians and researchers from Private Health Management (PHM) attend each year to ensure that our Personal Care Teams can quickly translate the latest developments in cancer research into personalized, high-quality care for our clients.

New research from clinical trials presented at ASCO can lead to new or expanded FDA approvals, which can change “standard of care” and influence how doctors treat patients. Changing the standard of care requires robust evidence and can occur in many ways, including moving treatments from later to earlier lines of therapy, adding or removing drugs from a standard regimen, altering who gets a drug based on genetic testing, and more. At ASCO 2025, PHM’s team of experts identified several potentially practice-changing studies that could help us better serve our clients.

Moving effective therapies earlier in the treatment journey

In cancer care, first-line therapy refers to the treatments given immediately after diagnosis, while late-line therapies are used after the disease progresses or becomes resistant to previous treatments. New drugs are initially tested at late line, where patients have fewer options, and only after efficacy is demonstrated are the treatments tested at first line. This helps ensure that only the most efficacious drugs are given to patients with other options.

• Breast cancer: For patients with HER2-positive, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, the DESTINY-Breast09 trial showed that the combination of a powerful antibody drug conjugate, Enhertu®, plus an antibody, Perjeta®, as first-line therapy significantly improved progression-free survival, compared with the current standard of care. With this data, PHM Personal Care Teams will help clients with newly diagnosed HER2-positive breast cancer consider the pros and cons of this regimen, including balancing the potential for extended disease control with the side effects of Enhertu.¹
• Colorectal cancer: The BREAKWATER trial tested a combination of two targeted therapies (encorafenib + cetuximab) with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic colorectal cancer that carries a genetic mutation (BRAF V600E). Compared to standard chemotherapy, the combination cut both the risk of death and the risk of disease progression by about half. Because of this study, the FDA granted accelerated approval for this treatment combination as a first-line therapy. PHM Care Teams will ensure that clients who have been diagnosed this type of cancer are informed and consider this newly available treatment option.²

Expanding the role of immunotherapy across disease phases

Drugs aimed at harnessing a patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells have revolutionized many treatment regimens. Several studies presented at ASCO support the addition of immunotherapy to pre-and post-surgical treatment, maintenance of response, and in first-line settings. PHM Personal Care Teams will closely monitor whether these therapies gain FDA-approval and will help clients make decisions about their use and guide access to these immunotherapies.

• Gastroesophageal cancer: The MATTERHORN trial tested the addition of durvalumab, an immunotherapy, to chemotherapy both before and after surgery in patients with gastric or gastroesophageal cancer. Compared to chemotherapy alone, the combination treatment increased the number of patients who had no signs of cancer at surgery and helped patients stay cancer-free longer. This trial supports the use of immunotherapy as an earlier line of therapy, not just for advanced cancer.³
• Lung cancer: The IMforte trial tested the combination of chemotherapy (lurbinectedin) plus immunotherapy (atezolizumab) in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, a historically aggressive cancer. The study examined whether this treatment combination could be an effective maintenance therapy, which is given for a longer duration after initial chemotherapy to help keep the cancer from returning. The combination significantly extended the time to cancer progression and overall survival, offering a strong, new treatment option.⁴
• Lung cancer: The DeLLphi-304 trial tested tarlatamab, a novel immunotherapy called a bispecific T-cell engager, which brings immune cells into close proximity of the cancer, in patients with small cell lung cancer that returned after initial treatment. Tarlatamab significantly improved overall survival, and helped reduce symptoms, including cough and shortness of breath compared with standard chemotherapy. This trial supports the use of immunotherapy as a second-line treatment for this difficult-to-treat cancer.⁵

Informing care with molecular testing

Genetic and biomarker testing at the time of cancer diagnosis to ensure the most effective treatment strategies are pursued from the start continues to be supported by extensive research. The results of the studies below align with PHM’s proactive approach to encourage both hereditary and tumor testing upfront, ensuring that patients receive personalized treatment strategies based on their specific molecular profiles.

• Prostate cancer: The AMPLITUDE trial tested the addition of a targeted therapy called a PARP inhibitor (niraparib) to standard of care therapy in patients with metastatic prostate cancer who either had an inherited mutation or a tumor-only (somatic) mutation in a set of genes responsible for a type of DNA repair called homologous recombination. Adding niraparib resulted in a 37% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with standard treatment. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate clear benefit for somatic mutations, and these findings underscore the importance of early genetic testing to identify patients who may benefit from this combination therapy.⁶
• Acute myeloid leukemia: The KOMET-001 study focused on patients with acute myeloid leukemia that has returned or did not respond to initial treatment and carries a mutation in the NPM1 gene. Notably, NPM1 interacts with a protein called menin, and in this trial, patients who were treated with a targeted therapy called ziftomenib, which inhibits menin, achieved deep and durable responses. This study is significant because about 1/3 of these leukemia’s carry NPM1 mutations, and about half of these patients experience a relapse when treated with standard therapy. The results could help pave the way toward FDA approval of this emerging treatment option.⁷

At PHM, we are committed to staying at the forefront of these advancements. By closely monitoring the latest clinical trial data and understanding how it applies in real-world care, our team ensures that each client receives timely, evidence-based guidance to access the most effective treatments available.

PHM’s ASCO 2025 Attendees

Our team of clinicians and researchers are dedicated to ensuring all our clients with cancer receive the best care available. Clinicians: Jennifer Pena, Amber McDonald, Elizbeth Grevengoed, Mary Beth Coffin, Andrea Grace, and Sara Guldin. Researchers: Eva Gordon, David Parker, Nicholas Young, Lee Gibbs, Ross Keller, and Gareth Morrison.

References

1. Tolaney, S. M. et al. Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) + pertuzumab (P) vs taxane + trastuzumab + pertuzumab (THP) forfirst-line (1L) treatment of patients (pts) with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive (HER2+) advanced/metastatic breast cancer (a/mBC): Interim results from DESTINY-Breast09. J. Clin. Oncol. 43, LBA1008–LBA1008 (2025).

2. First-line encorafenib + cetuximab + mFOLFOX6 in BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (BREAKWATER): Progression-free survival and updated overall survival analyses. – ASCO. https://www.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/ABSTRACT483124.

3. Janjigian, Y. Y. et al. MATTERHORN: phase III study of durvalumab plus FLOT chemotherapy in resectable gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer. Future Oncol. Lond. Engl. 18, 2465–2473 (2022).

4. Paz-Ares, L. G. et al. Lurbinectedin (lurbi) + atezolizumab (atezo) as first-line (1L) maintenance treatment (tx) in patients (pts) with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC): Primary results of the phase 3 IMforte trial. J. Clin. Oncol. 43, 8006–8006 (2025).

5. Rudin, C. M. et al. Tarlatamab versus chemotherapy (CTx) as second-line (2L) treatment for small cell lung cancer (SCLC): Primary analysis of Ph3 DeLLphi-304. J. Clin. Oncol. 43, LBA8008–LBA8008 (2025).

6. Phase 3 AMPLITUDE trial: Niraparib (NIRA) and abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AAP) for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) patients (pts) with alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes. | Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.17_suppl.LBA5006.

7. Wang, E. S. et al. Ziftomenib in relapsed/refractory (R/R) NPM1 -mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML): Phase 1b/2 clinical activity and safety results from the pivotal KOMET-001 study. J. Clin. Oncol. 43, 6506–6506 (2025).