Key Patient Takeaways From the 2026 ASCO GI Cancers Symposium

During the 2026 ASCO Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium, CURE was live on site, where we spoke directly with conferencegoers, oncologists and leading experts to better understand what this year’s data mean for patients, along with their families and caregivers. From emerging research to practice-changing trial results, the annual meeting served as a critical forum for sharing advances across the spectrum of gastrointestinal cancers and for translating complex science into real-world clinical impact.

To capture the most meaningful takeaways for patients, CURE asked experts to reflect on the overarching messages from the meeting and how these findings may influence care today and in the future.

Featured voices include Dr. Kanwal PS Raghav, professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and executive medical director of the Department of Ambulatory Treatment Centers; Dr. Stephen L. Chan, clinical professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr. Yanghee Woo, director of the Gastroenterology Minimally Invasive Therapy Program and professor of surgical oncology; and Dr. Thejus Jayakrishnan, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In this conversation, experts highlighted key themes shaping the cancer landscape, including advances in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing, the growing role of artificial intelligence, progress in targeted therapies for, and an increased emphasis on quality of life and patient-centered decision-making.

CURE: Looking at the conference as a whole, what would you like patients, along with their families and caregivers, to take away from the 2026 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium? What do you believe is the most important overall message?

Raghav: Regarding ctDNA, there have been numerous developments at GI ASCO 2026. We are presenting data from Japan, Australia, and the United States regarding the reproducibility and high sensitivity of these assays in detecting molecular residual disease. We have even seen signals where early intervention is resulting in the eradication of ctDNA positivity. Whether that translates into long-term outcomes is yet to be seen, but the message here is that many interventions and clinical trials are still ongoing for circulating tumor DNA-positive patients.

If you have stage 2, 3 or 4 disease, have received all standard-of-care treatments, and have no scan evidence of disease, you should get a signatory test, or any other test that can detect molecular residual disease, and look for clinical trials if you are positive.

Chan: There are always many active studies ongoing, either developing new drugs or measures to improve the quality of life for patients. The ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is an opportunity not only for clinicians to update themselves, but also to interact with different experts and specialties so they can improve their practice based on the latest evidence. This is truly important. Sometimes results are negative and sometimes they are positive, but ultimately, they all contribute to the evolving practice that helps our patients.

This year, we have seen positive trial data that is potentially practice-changing. We have also heard negative results from some trials, which can be discouraging, but these also help our patients by refining our knowledge.

Woo: Patients can go online to find the specifics of these trials, but the main takeaway I want patients to have from GI ASCO 2026 is that there is hope. Many new therapies, drugs, and strategies are being developed by scientists, surgeons, and medical oncologists working closely together. We aren’t just looking at biomarkers and clinical outcomes; we are being smart by integrating AI analysis to help select patients for treatment and predict outcomes.

With the data generated in the past, we are getting smarter about how we process information to design better studies. Pharmaceutical companies and labs are developing new drugs, such as the oncolytic virus CF33-hNIS for which we published preclinical work in our abstract. The real takeaway is that there is significant hope that we will discover something new through this collaboration and new technology. Resources for stomach cancer are increasing and improving; hopefully, we will soon have patient-specific and tumor-specific ways of treating them.

By using AI tools and better communication across the board — including patient advocacy groups, pharmaceutical companies, surgeons, and oncologists — we are creating better treatment strategies for individuals. I am hopeful that new and better cures for stomach cancer are coming soon; even with some disappointing trial results this year, we have to keep going.

Jayakrishnan: The most important takeaway for me and for patients is that people are very thoughtful about these issues. We are taking patient preferences and quality-of-life impacts into consideration. At this ASCO, we have seen advances in targeted therapies and progress in treatments for all gastrointestinal cancers. In colorectal cancer, we have seen new studies with promising results targeting the KRAS mutation in pancreatic cancer, which has been considered an "undruggable" target until now. These options also have fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.

There have also been discussions regarding treatment options for cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and novel therapies that target specific mutations. The same applies to colorectal cancer, specifically regarding the BRAF mutation and targeted therapies used in combination with chemotherapy to effectively control cancer for long periods while managing toxicity. While not all patients are eligible for targeted therapies since they require specific mutations, the field is moving forward.

We certainly need more studies, but things are progressing, and that is the biggest takeaway for me.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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