Peter Mac celebrates most successful ASCO ever

05 June 2025

A record amount of Peter Mac research was presented at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting held in Chicago this week.

There were 44,000 attendees from across the globe at the conference, with 40 percent from outside the US.

Associate Director of Clinical Research Professor Jayesh Desai was joined on the 2025 ASCO organising committee by colleagues Professor Shahneen Sandhu and Professor Shankar Siva and said that the quality of research presented by Peter Mac staff and the important roles our people played at the meeting was astounding.

“This is the world’s premier cancer meeting attracting over 40,000 attendees from more than 100 countries who all come together to collaborate and learn about the latest advances and research in cancer care,” he said.

“There were two important practice changing trials with simultaneous NEJM publications involving Peter Mac; Professor Danny Rischin led a trial that tested a new treatment for high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and I was involved in a global practice changing colorectal cancer trial.

“For the first time, ASCO held a specific theranostics session which was dominated by the Peter Mac ProsTIC team, including Professor Michael Hofman who delivered Dr James Buteau’s Conquer Cancer Award-winning abstract.

“The Genitourinary team had three oral presentations and were major contributors to an additional two which I believe is a record for a Peter Mac department at this congress and really highlights our role as global leaders in this space.

“It was wonderful to see Professor Michael Jefford chairing and speaking in Education sessions on cancer survivorship and Professor Linda Mileshkin presenting the research she led on patient reported outcomes in cervical cancer. Linda was also a member of the Education Program Committee for Gynecologic Cancer."

In his last year on the organising committee, Professor Desai also highlighted roles that Professor Shankar Siva and Dr Lavinia Tan played as discussants.

“The role of discussant allows them to demonstrate the depth of our knowledge, showcasing Peter Mac as thought leaders in research-led cancer care,” he said.

“Professor Jeanne Tie also delivered important research results on using ctDNA guided treatment for colon cancer – an area she continues to be a trailblazer in.

“I would like to congratulate all of the Peter Mac team who presented, authored and played other critical roles at this prestigious cancer meeting. Our presence is getting bigger and more impactful each year as we go from strength to strength.”

Please see below links to the oral presentation abstracts featuring Peter Mac researchers.

Genitourinary Cancers:

First-in-human results of terbium-161[161Tb]Tb-PSMA-I&T radioligand treatment in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (VIOLET): A single-centre, single-arm, phase I/II study. ASCO Conquer Cancer Merit Award.

Predictive and prognostic value of baseline PSMA-PET total tumor volume and SUV mean within ENZA-p, a randomized phase II trial of enzalutamide versus enzalutamide plus [177Lu] Lu-PSMA-617 (ANZUP1901)

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in participants with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) receiving 177Lu-PSMA-617 or cabazitaxel: an exploratory post-hoc analysis of a randomized phase II trial (TheraP; ANZUP 1603)

177Lu-PSMA-617 with ipilimumab (ipi) and nivolumab (nivo) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC): An investigator-initiated phase 2 trial (EVOLUTION; ANZUP2001)

Skin Cancer and Melanoma

Phase 3 trial of adjuvant cemiplimab versus placebo in High-Risk Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (CSCC)

Read the NEJM publication: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2502449

Gastrointestinal Cancer

ctDNA-guided adjuvant chemotherapy escalation in stage III colon cancer: Primary analysis of the ctDNA-positive cohort from the randomized AGITG dynamic-III trial (intergroup study of AGITG and CCTG).

First-line encorafenib + cetuximab + mFOLFOX6 in BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (BREAKWATER): Progression-free survival and updated overall survival analyses.