Redesigning oncology clinical trials with agentic AI

 

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has placed an increasing role in cancer research. AI tools "can be used to help improve the next generation of treatment options for patients in key tumour areas, leveraging real-life data...to combine new and existing therapies."   At the recent European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Targeted Anticancer Therapies Congress, the following notion was brought forth: "AI is not the future - it is the present.  By learning how to best harness its power, we can help increased the speed and efficiency of personalized care delivery."  

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Programme details

Reis-Filho J. Transforming R&D with AI. ESMO Targeted Anticancer Therapies Congress 2026 - Educational Session: The agentic AI advantage: Optimising oncology clinical trials

New survey highlights the role of clinical practice guidelines to improve care for patients with rare cancers

 Results from a recent ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) and EURACAN (European Reference Network to Cancers) had led to a "call for policy action to standardize care pathways for rare cancers after analysis links guidance adherence to patient survival").  According to the survey, conducted between September - October 2025, patients with rare malignancies equate to 650,000 new cases per year, representing 24% if all cancer diagnoses across Europe.  

ESMO and EURACAN thus propose the following actions: 

• Centralize rare cancer surgeries in accredited centres  
• Enforce mandatory multidisciplinary decision-making and time-critical standards throughout patient diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up
• Track adherence to established Clinical Practice Guidelines via national dashboards

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Overall survival not substantially improved with CDK4/6 inhibitors used in first- compared with second-line treatment in Patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer

 Findings from SONIA, a phase III Dutch study comparing "the sequence of an aromatase inhibitor plus CDK4/6 inhibitor as first-line treatment followed by fulvestrant as second-line treatment (CDK4/6 inhibitor first-line group") did not improve overall survival compared with second-line treatment. Rather, this treatment regimen increased treatment-related and financial toxic effects in patients with HR-positive HER-2 negative advanced breast cancer.  Following an analysis of 1050 patients enrolled in SONIA, median overall survival was 47.9 months with first-line CDK4/6 inhibitor and 48.1 months with second-line CDK4/6 inhibitor  

To learn more about the SONIA study, click here. 

Sources mentioned: 

• Wortelboer N, van Ommen-Nijhof A, Konings IR, et al. Overall Survival With First-Line vs Second-Line CDK4/6 Inhibitor Use in Advanced Breast Cancer A Randomized Clinical Trial  JAMA Oncology; Published online 19 February 2026. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.6585
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• Valenza C, Burstein HJ. Lessons From the SONIA Trial on Timing of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Advanced Breast Cancer—The Sooner, the Better? JAMA Oncology; Published online 19 February 2026. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.6345