ASCO 2026 Rogel Recap

The 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual (ASCO) Meeting was held in Chicago, Illinois, May 29-June 2. Many Rogel researchers participated in oral presentations, poster sessions and panel discussions before an audience of cancer researchers from around the globe. 

Check out the highlights:

Joshua Goldman, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, presented Real-world experience of a pediatric precision oncology protocol utilizing paired somatic and germline sequencing at a single institution: Interim analysis in a rapid oral abstract session. 

Angel Qin, M.D., clinical associate professor of internal medicine, presented her abstract Raising the Bar in ALK and RET in an oral abstract session. 

Daniel Louis Hertz, Ph.D., PharmD (pictured above on the right), associate professor of clinical pharmacy, discussed Clinical Benefits and Risks of DPYD Testing in an education session, and also presented a poster, Post-treatment recovery patterns among patients with early-stage cancer who develop taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN): SWOG S1714 (NCT03939481).        

Ulka Vaishampayan, MBBS, clinical professor of internal medicine, presented her poster, A phase 1 study of PHST001, an anti-CD24 monoclonal antibody, in adult patients with advanced relapsed and/or refractory solid tumors.

Ye Chua (shown above on the left), second-year medical student, presented her poster, Characterization of germline pathogenic variants in melanoma patients. 

Lauren Wallner, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor epidemiology and internal medicine, presented her poster, Five-year survival disparities in two population-based cohorts of adults with early-onset colorectal cancer. 

Christine Veenstra, M.D., MSHP, associate professor of internal medicine, presented her poster Intensity of chemotherapy regimens for patients with Lynch syndrome and colorectal cancer. 

Steven Katz, M.D., M.P.H. (shown above right), professor of health management and policy; professor of internal medicine, presented his poster, Correlates of patient enrollment in a population-based randomized controlled trial of cascade genetic testing in families with hereditary cancer susceptibility. Watch the video.

Varshini Odayar, first-year medical student, presented her poster, Structural disparities in early-onset colorectal cancer mortality: A national county-level analysis.

Michelle Riba, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry, presented at an oral abstract session, Sick of Being Tired: Strategies for Cancer-Related Fatigue.  

Victoria Wytiaz, M.D., clinical assistant professor of internal medicine, presented her poster Expressive writing for body image distress and anxiety in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: A pilot, randomized controlled trial.

Yasmin Karimi, M.D. (pictured above on the left), clinical assistant professor of internal medicine, presented her poster, Epcoritamab (epcor) + chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) in patients (pts) with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL) eligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT): Pooled results from arms 4 and 10 of EPCORE NHL-2. 

Nam Nguyen-Hoang, graduate student in clinical pharmacy, presented his poster, The role of pretreatment vitamin D insufficiency in racial disparity in taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy: Results from the SWOG S0221 trial. 

Imad Shureiqi, M.D., professor of internal medicine, presented his poster, Consensus molecular subtypes, mutational features, and circulating tumor DNA dynamics in colorectal cancer: A real-world clinico-genomic analysis.

Yufan Yang M.D., resident, internal medicine, presented his poster, Long term outcomes of central neurocytoma in a multi-institutional cohort: The role of radiotherapy and Ki-67. 

Kristen Pettit, M.D., clinical assistant professor of internal medicine, presented her poster, Phlebotomy, adherence, and hematocrit control in patients with polycythemia vera in the United States: Real-world analysis.

Lynn Henry, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured above right), Daniel F Hayes M.D. Breast Cancer Research Professor; Professor of Internal Medicine, presented her poster, Associations between self-efficacy and symptom burden in young women with breast cancer initiating endocrine therapy (ET) on SWOG S2010. 

Monika Burness, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine, presented her poster, Phase 1 dose-escalation trial of talazoparib in combination with belinostat in select advanced solid tumors.

Jennifer J. Griggs, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, FASCO, professor of health management and policy; professor of internal medicine, discussed her abstract, Building the Foundation: Principles from Professional Coaching, at an education session.

Erin Frances Cobain, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, discussed her abstract, ctDNA Surveillance in Early Breast Cancer: Handling Requests and Results, at an education session. 

Publication only

Anbarasu Kumaraswamy, Ph.D., Smith Family Postdoctoral Scholar. 
Multi-omic profiling to clarify mechanisms of therapy-induced prostate cancer lineage plasticity.

Rohith Kesaraju, M.D., candidate.
Longitudinal changes in pulmonary function following multiple courses of thoracic radiotherapy.

Jaleesa Akuoko, M.D., clinical instructor.
Barriers to integrating obesity management into cancer survivorship care: Results from a single-institution survey.

Ameer Elaimy, M.D., Ph.D., clinical resident. 
Targeting nitrogen metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Jackson Brunner, M.D.
Trends in U.S. pneumonia-related admissions among patients with multiple myeloma (2006–2022).

Sai Sushrutha Mudupula Vemula, M.D.
Association of GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure with mortality, infectious, and hematologic outcomes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: A real-world retrospective TriNetX study.

Sherwin Kelekar, M.D., Ph.D.
Restrictive trial eligibility criteria as a barrier to clinical trial enrollment among veterans with aerodigestive cancers.

Josiah Nieto, M.D.
Comparative effectiveness of pembrolizumab and nivolumab as first-line treatment for advanced/unresectable or metastatic melanoma: A propensity-score adjusted analysis from a US national health system.

Suhail Sapkota, M.D.
Assessment of racial and ethnic reporting in clinical trials cited by the NCCN bladder cancer treatment guidelines.

Contributed by Eric Olsen