ASCO 2026 Plenary: A RAS Breakthrough in Pancreatic Cancer Headlines Five Practice-Shifting Wins

Oncology Intelligence Digest — ASCO 2026 Special Edition — Mid-Meeting Coverage, May 31, 2026

• Revolution Medicines’ oral RAS(ON) inhibitor daraxonrasib nearly doubled overall survival in previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer — a median 13.2 vs. 6.6 months in the RAS G12 population (HR 0.40; p<0.0001), published simultaneously in NEJM — in a plenary readout (LBA5) one ASCO commentator called “landscape-changing” (Revolution Medicines, The ASCO Post).
• Johnson & Johnson’s apalutamide (Erleada) opened the plenary (LBA1): given before and after radical prostatectomy in high-risk localized or locally advanced disease, perioperative apalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy produced a pathologic complete response/minimal residual disease rate of 8.9% vs. 1.0% and cut the risk of metastasis or death by 20%, breaking a decades-long treatment gap (Johnson & Johnson, Fierce Pharma).
• Eli Lilly’s adjuvant selpercatinib (Retevmo) reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 83% versus placebo in early-stage RET fusion-positive NSCLC (LIBRETTO-432, n=151), with simultaneous NEJM publication — a striking effect size in a biomarker found in just 1–2% of NSCLC that strengthens the case for genomic testing at diagnosis (Eli Lilly, CancerNetwork).
• Summit/Akeso’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific ivonescimab cut the risk of death by 34% versus a PD-1 inhibitor (tislelizumab) in first-line squamous NSCLC (HARMONi-6; p=0.0017) — the first China-only dataset ever selected for the ASCO plenary, though its single-geography design left generalizability the central debate ahead of the global HARMONi-3 readout (Akeso, Fierce Pharma).
• SARC041, the fifth plenary trial, tested Lilly’s CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) in advanced dedifferentiated liposarcoma — a rare sarcoma with few options; unlike the other four trials, Lilly did not pre-release topline figures, and the result was presented this afternoon with numbers still awaited (Eli Lilly).
• Beyond the plenary, two more Phase 3 readouts drew notice: bezuclastinib plus sunitinib posted “dramatic” results in advanced GIST that investigators say could replace single-agent sunitinib’s roughly 20-year standard (Dana-Farber), and Bristol Myers Squibb’s CELMoD mezigdomide cut the risk of progression or death by 52% (median PFS 18 vs. 8.3 months) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (pharmaphorum).
• On the meeting’s eve, Pfizer unveiled an oncology collaboration with China’s Innovent Biologics worth up to $10.5 billion across 12 antibody-drug conjugate and multispecific programs ($650M upfront plus ~$9.85B in milestones) — the latest in a multinational–China dealmaking wave alongside BMS–Hengrui, Merck–Kelun, and AbbVie–RemeGen (BioPharma Dive).

What to Watch

• SARC041 Topline — The one plenary readout still outstanding as of this cut; abemaciclib’s progression-free survival result in dedifferentiated liposarcoma will determine whether targeted therapy finally gains a foothold in this orphan sarcoma.
• The Global PD-1/VEGF Gate — HARMONi-6’s China-only cohort makes Summit/Akeso’s global confirmatory HARMONi-3 readout the decisive test for whether single-molecule PD-1/VEGF blockade translates to Western populations.
• RAS Regulatory Path — With RASolute 302 in NEJM, watch for daraxonrasib’s filing timeline in previously treated pancreatic cancer and for first-line and other-tumor expansion across Revolution’s RAS portfolio, including KRAS G12D-selective zoldonrasib.
• Adjuvant RET Filings — LIBRETTO-432’s 83% benefit should drive selpercatinib submissions in early-stage RET-positive NSCLC and accelerate arguments for universal molecular profiling in resected disease.
• China-Alliance Momentum — The Pfizer–Innovent pact awaits regulatory clearance to close; how quickly these ADC and multispecific assets advance will signal whether the dealmaking wave delivers clinically.

This edition includes an interactive Readout Explorer mapping 16 key ASCO 2026 readouts by mechanism of action and tumor type, with a matrix view of where the field is crowded and where it remains open. An end-of-meeting wrap-up edition follows on June 2.

Oncology Intelligence Digest • ASCO 2026 Special Edition • Mid-Meeting Coverage