Nicholas Hornstein: Key Trials and Emerging Themes to Watch at ASCO GI 2026

Nicholas Hornstein, Assistant Professor at Northwell Health, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“ASCO GI is coming! Not exhaustive, not a ranking. Just a quick snapshot of orals and posters I’m circling as I walk the halls. A mix of practice-shaping data and signals of where the field is heading

• Ab 283. CRITICS-II. Neoadjuvant chemo vs chemo + RT vs RT alone in resectable gastric cancer.
  Pairs nicely with ESOPEC. ESOPEC showed perioperative FLOT beat preop chemoradiation (CROSS). CRITICS-II shows adding radiation to perioperative chemo adds no survival benefit. Together, these trials likely suggest a shrinking role for radiation and reinforce perioperative chemo, especially FLOT, as the backbone.
•  HERIZONGEA-01. Zani + chemo ± tislelizumab in 1L HER2+ GEA.
  Bring on the bispecifics  After years of incremental HER2 gains, dual-epitope targeting feels like the first real step forward. Can this finally move the needle meaningfully in 1L?
•  Ab 18. GLP-1 receptor agonist vs aspirin for primary CRC prevention.
  Ooo. GLP-1 vs aspirin  We keep hearing GLP-1s cause cancer. This asks the opposite question using real-world data. Metabolism, inflammation, and CRC risk colliding in an interesting way.
•  Ab 20. Liver transplantation for unresectable CRLM. Belgian real-world data.
  TRANSMET changed the game. Now the question is durability and scalability outside trials. Selection, recurrence patterns, and real-world outcomes matter more than ever.
• Ab 14. COMMIT. Atezo vs mFOLFOX/bev/atezo in 1L MSI-H metastatic CRC.
  CHECKMATE-8HW suggested dual IO beats single-agent. More randomized data nudging us away from chemo for MSI-H disease is welcome, especially for patients who may never need it.
•  Ab TPS265. Telisotuzumab adizutecan vs SOC in post-adjuvant ctDNA+ CRC.
  Phase III on deck. ctDNA-defined MRD is clearly the next battleground. The key question is how big the benefit needs to be to change adjuvant practice.
•  Ab TPS266. EpCAM × 4-1BB bsAb + PD-L1 × VEGF bsAb + chemo in mCRC.
  The bispecifics are multiplying. Two bispecifics. Four targets. One trial. Ambitious, complex, and very on-trend for MSS CRC immunotherapy.
• Ab TPS275. TROP2 CAR IL-15–engineered cord blood NK cells + cetuximab in CRC MRD.
  MRD studies everywhere, but adding cellular therapy makes this one stand out. If immune escalation is going to work, minimal disease is the place to try it.
• Ab TPS273. BXQ-350 + mFOLFOX7/bev in 1L metastatic CRC.
  First-line phase 1 with a new mechanism targeting sphingolipid metabolism. Early, but exactly the kind of biology-driven swing worth watching.
• Ab 297. Peritoneal metastasis as an exclusion criterion in GI cancer trials.
  Gut Onc Lab work  Shows how eligibility criteria have tightened over time, often excluding patients with peritoneal disease. Big implications for generalizability and equity. Fun writing the code for this effort.

That’s the start of my early ASCO GI hit list. I’ll inevitably miss something great. If there’s an abstract I should see, let me know in the comments or stop me in the hallway.”

More posts featuring Nicholas Hornstein.