The European Lung Cancer Congress 2026, taking place March 25–28, 2026, in Copenhagen, Denmark, brings together the latest advances shaping thoracic oncology.
This year’s data highlight a rapidly evolving landscape, with progress across targeted therapy, immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and multimodal treatment strategies.
Based on presented abstracts, here are the 10 key lung cancer trials defining clinical direction in 2026.
TOP Study: Combination Therapy Overcomes High-Risk EGFR Biology
The TOP phase III trial demonstrated that adding chemotherapy to osimertinib significantly improves outcomes in EGFR-mutant NSCLC with concurrent TP53 mutations.
These findings suggest that treatment intensification may overcome poor prognosis associated with TP53 co-mutations.
BL-B01D1-204-01: Bispecific ADC Plus Immunotherapy in SCLC
The combination of iza-bren, a EGFR×HER3 bispecific ADC, with serplulimab demonstrated high response rates in treatment-naïve ES-SCLC.
Toxicities were mainly hematologic and manageable, with a low discontinuation rate (7.3%).
This study introduces a novel ADC–immunotherapy strategy in a historically difficult-to-treat disease.
KANDLELIT-001: KRAS G12C Targeting Meets Immunotherapy
The combination of MK-1084 and pembrolizumab demonstrated strong efficacy in KRAS G12C-mutant NSCLC, particularly in PD-L1–high tumors.
Results support further development of KRAS-targeted therapy combined with immunotherapy in the first-line setting.
Beamion LUNG-1: Zongertinib Shows Systemic and CNS Activity
Zongertinib demonstrated strong efficacy in treatment-naïve HER2-mutant NSCLC, including patients with active brain metastases.
Findings highlight clinically meaningful intracranial activity, addressing a major unmet need.
BECOME Study: Survival Signal in EGFR Exon 20 Insertions
Becotarug combined with osimertinib showed clinically meaningful survival outcomes in platinum-pretreated EGFR exon 20 insertion NSCLC.l
Results emphasize biological heterogeneity within exon 20 insertions.
ASTEROID Trial: SBRT Plus Immunotherapy Delays Progression
The addition of durvalumab after SBRT showed a reduction in tumor progression in early-stage NSCLC.
Findings suggest a potential role for immunotherapy after radiotherapy, although clinical impact remains uncertain in this population.
NORTHSTAR: Selecting Patients for Local Consolidative Therapy
This secondary analysis of NORTHSTAR identified predictors of benefit from local consolidative therapy (LCT) added to osimertinib.
Findings highlight the importance of patient selection and systemic disease control.
KEYNOTE-671: Long-Term Impact of Pathologic Complete Response
At 5-year follow-up, perioperative pembrolizumab significantly increased pCR rates and improved outcomes in patients achieving pCR.
The benefit was consistent across disease stages and PD-L1 subgroups. These results confirm that pCR is associated with durable long-term benefit.
OptiTROP-Lung03: ADC Improves Survival After TKI Failure
Sacituzumab tirumotecan significantly improved outcomes compared with docetaxel in EGFR-mutant NSCLC after TKI and chemotherapy.
Results support ADCs as a new treatment option in later-line EGFR-mutant disease.
LATIFY Trial: ATR Inhibition Does Not Improve Outcomes
The LATIFY phase III trial evaluated ceralasertib plus durvalumab in heavily pretreated NSCLC.
Despite manageable toxicity, these results highlight the challenge of overcoming resistance after immunotherapy.
Key Takeaway
ELCC 2026 highlights a field evolving across multiple fronts. Targeted combinations are improving outcomes in molecular subgroups, ADCs are expanding treatment options after resistance, and multimodal strategies are being refined.
At the same time, several trials emphasize that patient selection and tumor biology remain central to achieving meaningful benefit, underscoring the need for increasingly precise approaches in lung cancer treatment.
Read abstracts here