Winship researchers present latest cancer advances at ASCO 2025

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University physicians and scientists will present new research findings and offer expert perspectives at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, May 30 – June 3.

Drawing approximately 40,000 attendees, ASCO’s annual meeting is the world's largest clinical cancer research conference. This year’s 31 Winship presentations—a mix of oral and poster abstracts, case-based panels, clinical science symposia and education sessions—describe advances in cancer care, including a vaccine for HER2/HER3 breast cancer; time-of-day-specified immunotherapy for advanced melanoma; biomarkers and genomic sequencing to help guide treatment decisions; algorithms to improve access to palliative care; and innovative treatment approaches for lung cancer, multiple myeloma, pediatric brain tumors and other cancers.

Several studies selected for oral and rapid oral presentations will report significant new findings, including:

• An analysis of international medical graduates in oncology leadership roles at U.S. academic centers, presented by Winship medical oncologist Shipra Gandhi, MD, MS.
• The phase 3 SERENA-6 trial, co-authored by Winship medical oncologist Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, which will be presented at the plenary session. The trial evaluates switching patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer from aromatase inhibitor-based to camizestrant-based therapy if they develop an ESR1 mutation—a genetic alteration associated with resistance to aromatase inhibitors.
• A cohort study incorporating symptom burden and mortality to improve a palliative care identification algorithm, presented by Winship medical oncologist Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP.
• The first national analysis of survival outcomes in advanced non-small cell lung cancer to demonstrate a survival benefit with broad-based genomic sequencing, presented by Winship radiation oncologist Patricia Santos, MD, MS.
• A neoadjuvant integrated biomarker study evaluating the effect of the SEMA4D blocking antibody, pepinemab, alone and in combination with immune checkpoint blockade in patients with head and neck cancer, presented by Winship medical oncologist Conor Steuer, MD. Steuer is also a co-author of the phase 3 HERTHENA-Lung02 study and the phase 3 SWOG/NRG S1914 trial, both of which evaluate novel treatment combinations for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
• New treatment directions in advanced bladder cancer, discussed by Winship medical oncologist Jacqueline Brown, MD, and in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, discussed by Winship medical oncologist Ticiana Leal, MD.

In addition, Satvika Bharadwaj, MS, a doctoral student in the lab of Winship researcher Anant Madabhushi, PhD, received an ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Award from Conquer Cancer. This ASCO foundation award provides monetary support and complimentary meeting registration for Bharadwaj to present her first-author poster abstract, “Computational pathology-informed immune biomarker for trastuzumab benefit in HER2+ breast cancer: Validation in NSABP B-41 clinical trial.”

Follow Winship on X/Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram for updates from the conference and visit the Winship booth #10000 in the exhibit hall.

Schedule of Winship Presentations