Every year, tens of thousands of the world's leading cancer researchers descend on Chicago, carrying the hopes of millions of patients and their families. For five days, the halls of McCormick Place Convention Centre on the shores of Lake Michigan become the global frontline in the fight against cancer as scientists unveil breakthroughs that could change clinical practice and save lives for years to come. The American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual meeting is the world’s biggest cancer conference. Yet despite the enormous stakes, those presenting the data typically use restrained language. Wary of creating undue hype or giving patients false hope, they speak cautiously about “clinically meaningful improvements,” “statistically significant benefits,” and “primary endpoints.” Progress in cancer medicine is usually measured in small but important gains — a drug that extends survival by a few months or a new combination that edges ahead of the previous standard of care. This is why what happened this year was so extraordinary.
A Standing Ovation for a Breakthrough Pill
When researchers revealed results showing that a new daily pill could double survival for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, more than 9,000 oncologists rose to their feet and applauded. Videos shared online showed the thunderous standing ovation for Dr. Brian Wolpin, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US. There was good reason for the excitement. Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. Symptoms often appear only after the disease has spread beyond the point where surgery is possible. There is no routine screening test, and progress towards treatments has historically been slow.
The news spread like wildfire on social media. One expert wrote on X: “I feel inspired and energised, to put it mildly — we have a targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer now, and nothing is undruggable anymore.” During an ASCO press conference — typically dry affairs where it can be difficult to get a single quote that is appropriate for a non-medical audience — one leading expert described how she started crying when she read about the trial.
The New Pill: Daraxonrasib
The new pill, daraxonrasib, has the potential to become a game-changer in the fight against this lethal disease. It could have wider potential as the first in a new class of RAS inhibitor drugs that are being tested against other types of cancer. This was undoubtedly the headline breakthrough of ASCO 2026, but there were other studies that also delivered hope. Having attended this conference for the last five years, I believe three important themes have emerged.
Theme 1: Living Longer and Better
The first is demonstrated by daraxonrasib: it’s not always about finding a “cure.” That word has long dominated the conversation around cancer, and it remains the ultimate goal, but this year's meeting underlined another equally important ambition — helping people live longer and better, even if their disease cannot yet be eradicated. Life-extending treatments that buy precious extra time with loved ones are also crucial. The excitement surrounding daraxonrasib was not because it eliminated cancer, but because it dramatically slowed disease progression for patients with some of the worst prognoses. Just as successive advances transformed HIV from a fatal diagnosis into a chronic condition for many patients, oncologists increasingly hope that combinations of targeted drugs and immunotherapies will allow people with some cancers to move from one effective therapy to the next for many years.
Theme 2: Personalised Medicine
The second major theme in recent years has been a pivot away from one-size-fits-all medicine to more personalised care. Genetic tests that analyse the specific DNA changes in a tumour are increasingly being used to select the best treatment option. Rather than categorising cancers simply by where they originate in the body, doctors can use these tests to classify them according to the molecular mutations driving their growth. Two patients with lung cancer may therefore receive different treatments because their tumours are biologically different, while patients with cancers arising in different organs may benefit from the same targeted drug if they share a common genetic alteration.
The Express revealed this week that Cancer Research UK is funding around 500 genetic testing kits for patients being treated at the UK’s 29 specialist cancer research centres, known as the Experimental Cancer Medicine Network. The tests, using the Guardant360 liquid assay, analyse more than 700 genes in solid tumours and will be offered to patients with dozens of advanced cancer types. One patient who received a genetic test to identify the best course of treatment for her breast cancer likened it to reading a barcode in a supermarket: “They can scan your tumour DNA, and then run it against all the information that they know to tell you: ‘This is your personalised treatment plan.’” This kind of targeted medicine had been discussed for decades, but in recent years we finally have the technology to make it a reality. Oncology is entering a new era of treatment defined by precision, rather than brute force.
Theme 3: Kinder Treatments
The third theme that was clear at ASCO was the importance of striving for kinder treatments, as well as new ones. One important study from the UCL Cancer Institute found that genetic testing can help to decide whether women with early-stage breast cancer could be safely spared chemotherapy. The new test, called Prosigna, analyses a tumour sample to measure the activity of genes involved in cancer growth. An international trial involving more than 4,400 patients in the UK, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand found that only 2% of patients with a low score would benefit from chemo. If rolled out, the test could allow more than 5,000 women in the UK to avoid the gruelling treatment every year.
Another study at the conference found that adding an immunotherapy drug to treatment plans for advanced bladder cancer could help some patients avoid brutal surgery to remove the organ. Around 40% of such patients treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy typically see their cancer return within one year. When the extra drug, durvalumab, was used, 85% of patients in a trial led by The Institute of Cancer Research in London remained free of the disease 12 months later. Modern oncology is increasingly focused on treatments that extend survival while preserving quality of life and minimising unnecessary toxicity.
The standing ovation for daraxonrasib reflected the excitement surrounding one remarkable breakthrough. But the bigger story is that, after decades of painstaking progress, cancer care is being transformed into something smarter, kinder and more personalised — giving patients hope of both more time and a better quality of life.
