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ESMO Congress 2026: key results and trends

What the 4,411 abstracts at ESMO Congress 2026 reported, drug by drug: the readouts that stood out and the targets and modalities that dominated, and how this edition compares with earlier years.

abstracts
4,411
drug-linked abstracts
2,184
companies
375
from Phase 3 studies
309

Drug-linked abstracts by phase

  • Phase 1 217
  • Phase 1/2 125
  • Phase 2 461
  • Phase 2/3 11
  • Phase 3 309
  • Phase 4 3

Key results

Quotes are taken verbatim from each abstract's results; selection is automated. Report an issue

  1. Phase 3Breast cancerChia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group

    TQB2102

    APEX-Breast01: TQB2102 versus chemotherapy in HER2-low recurrent or metastatic breast cancer (r/m BC) - Results from a randomized phase 3 study

    The PFS were significantly improved in the TQB2102 group than in the TPC group both in HR+/HER2-low pts (median, 16.4 mo vs 5.5 mo; HR, 0.29 [95% CI 0.22-0.39]; p<0.0001 ) and in all HER2-low pts (median, 16.4 mo vs 5.5 mo; HR, 0.29 [95% CI 0.22-0.38]; p<0.0001 ).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  2. Phase 3Gastric adenocarcinomaInnovent Biologics

    arcotatug tavatecan

    Arcotatug tavatecan (IBI343/TAK-921) versus treatment of physician’s choice (TPC) in previously treated, advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (G/GEJA): First interim analysis of the randomized, open-label, phase 3, G-HOPE-001 study

    With 34.8% of events, median OS was 9.9 months vs 7.4 months (HR: 0.63 [95% CI: 0.45-0.89]).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  3. Phase 3Prostate cancer (PCa)

    apalutamide

    Perioperative apalutamide (APA) plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with radical prostatectomy plus pelvic lymph node dissection (RP + PLND) vs RP + PLND alone in patients (pts) with high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer (HR LPC/LAPC): PROTEUS substudy

    The primary end point was met: median EFS not reached (APA + ADT) vs 19.1 mo (RP alone); HR 0.38 (95% CI 0.26-0.55; p<0.0001).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  4. Phase 3Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)HUTCHMED

    savolitinib

    Savolitinib or placebo combined with osimertinib in treatment-naïve advanced NSCLC with EGFR mutation and MET overexpression: Results from the phase 3 SANOVO study

    Savo+osi significantly prolonged INV-assessed PFS vs. placebo+osi in both MET IHC 3+ (24.8 vs. 11.1 mo; HR 0.45; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.66; P<0.0001) and ITT populations (24.9 vs. 13.8 mo; HR 0.56; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.74; P<0.0001).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  5. Phase 3Muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma (MIBC)

    enfortumab vedotin

    Perioperative durvalumab with or without tremelimumab plus neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer: Results from the phase 3 VOLGA trial

    D+EV showed significant improvements in EFS (HR 0.51 [95% CI, 0.38–0.67], P<0.0001; 24-mo rate 64% vs 45%) and OS (HR 0.58 [95% CI, 0.40–0.83], P=0.0027; 24-mo rate 78% vs 69%) vs control.

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  6. Phase 3Small cell lung cancer (SCLC)Amgen

    tarlatamab

    Tarlatamab plus durvalumab (durva) vs durva as 1L maintenance (1LM) therapy following durva, platinum, and etoposide (1L durva + EP) in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC): Primary analysis of the phase 3 DeLLphi-305 trial

    With median (m) follow-up time of 15.9 and 16.1 months (mo), respectively, tarlatamab + durva significantly improved OS (HR: 0.42; 95% CI 0.32, 0.54; P <0.001; mOS: 21.1 [95% CI, 20.8 to NE] vs 12.7 mo [95% CI, 11.2 to 14.8]).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  7. Phase 3Prostate cancer (PCa)Bayer

    darolutamide

    Darolutamide with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and definitive or salvage locoregional radiation therapy (RT) for localised, very high-risk prostate cancer: Interim analysis of an international, placebo-controlled, randomised phase 3 trial (DASL-HiCaP; ANZUP1801)

    MFS-CI was longer amongst those assigned darolutamide vs placebo: 4-year MFS-CI 95% vs 88%, hazard ratio 0.42 (95% CI 0.27 to 0.66), 27 vs 63 events, p=0.0001.

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  8. Phase 3Endometrial cancer (EC)Merck

    sacituzumab tirumotecan

    Sacituzumab tirumotecan in previously treated advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer: Results from the phase 3 TroFuse-005/ENGOT-en23/GOG-3095 study

    Statistically significant improvements in PFS (HR, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.50–0.70]; P<0.0001) and OS (HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.55–0.84]; P=0.0001) were observed with sac-TMT vs TPC; ORR was also significantly improved vs TPC.

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  9. Phase 3Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)Roche

    divarasib

    Krascendo 1: Efficacy and safety of divarasib (diva) vs sotorasib (soto) or adagrasib (ada) in previously treated locally advanced or metastatic KRAS G12C-mutated NSCLC

    A statistically significant benefit in PFS (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.44–0.76) and OS (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.41–0.78) was observed for the diva vs control arm.

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  10. Phase 3Aggressive fibromatosis (AF)Immunome

    varegacestat

    RINGSIDE phase 3 study of varegacestat in desmoid tumors: Primary results and T2-weighted signal intensity changes

    VAR significantly improved PFS vs PBO (HR: 0.16 [95% CI: 0.07, 0.38]; P<0.0001).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  11. Phase 3Breast cancer

    izalontamab brengitecan

    PANKU-Breast01: Randomized phase III study of izalontamab brengitecan (iza-bren) in previously treated unresectable locally advanced or metastatic (LA/M) hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) breast cancer (BC)

    Iza-bren significantly improved PFS by BICR vs TPC; mPFS was 8.18 mo (95% CI, 6.93-8.58) vs 4.01 mo (95% CI, 2.92-4.30) (HR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.33-0.53; P<0.0001).

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

  12. Phase 3MelanomaPfizer

    encorafenib

    STARBOARD phase 3: A randomized, double-blind study of first-line (1L) encorafenib (enco), binimetinib (bini), and pembrolizumab (pembro) vs placebo (pbo) and pembro for unresectable locally advanced or metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma

    Both primary and key secondary EPs were met; confirmed ORR was 70.0% (triplet) vs 32.7% (control); median PFS was 33.0 vs 3.4 mo, respectively, and risk of disease progression or death was reduced by 67% for triplet vs control.

    Read the abstract (opens in a new tab)

Monoclonal antibodies accounted for 38% of drug-linked abstracts, up from 33% in 2025. Small molecules, the most frequent modality, accounted for 52% of drug-linked abstracts, up from 47% in 2025. TOP1 (3%) was new to the top targets compared with 2025.

What the abstracts covered

Share of the 2,184 drug-linked abstracts, by the target, modality, disease and company of each drug. An abstract can count in more than one row, so a list can add up to more than 100%.

  • Antibody-drug conjugates14%297 drug-linked abstracts · from 11% in 2025
  • Bispecific antibodies8%165 drug-linked abstracts · from 5% in 2025

Top targets

  1. PDCD145121% from 19% in 2025
  2. ERBB21467%
  3. CD2741185% from 8% in 2025
  4. EGFR1025%
  5. VEGFR2884%
  6. TUBB844%
  7. TS824%
  8. VEGFR4794%
  9. CTLA-4683%
  10. TOP1New663%

Top modalities

  1. Small molecules1,12752% from 47% in 2025
  2. Monoclonal antibodies82738% from 33% in 2025
  3. Antibody-drug conjugates29714% from 11% in 2025
  4. Bispecific antibodies1658%
  5. Radiopharmaceuticals693%
  6. Non-antibody therapeutic proteins563%
  7. Peptides362%
  8. Cell therapies332%

Top diseases

  1. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)30514%
  2. Breast cancer30214%
  3. Colorectal cancer (CRC)1527%
  4. Melanoma1035%
  5. Prostate cancer (PCa)1035%
  6. Ovarian cancer974%
  7. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)974%
  8. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC)794%
  9. Pancreatic cancer (PC)723%
  10. Gastric cancer (GC)693%

Most active companies

  1. Merck1748%
  2. Bristol Myers Squibb1738%
  3. AstraZeneca1115%
  4. Pfizer1005%
  5. Genentech924%
  6. Daiichi Sankyo633%
  7. Eli Lilly593%
  8. Amgen563%
  9. Novartis522%
  10. Astellas Pharma472%

ESMO over the years

  1. 20264,411 abstracts · this edition
  2. 20253,365 abstracts

Explore every ESMO 2026 result in Gosset

All 2,184 drug-linked abstracts, joined to each drug’s trials, targets, developers and deals, with a source behind every line.

This page shows a sample of results. Gosset has the abstracts from this meeting and 100+ others; reach out for full access.

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