From ASCO to ESMO: Four Strategic Shifts Shaping Oncology in 2026
Oncology is entering a new phase of clinical development. The biggest story coming out of ASCO 2026 wasn’t a single breakthrough, but a series of shifts changing how therapies are discovered, developed and delivered. As attention turns to ESMO, the question for sponsors is which advances have the evidence, scalability and operational readiness to meaningfully influence development over the next 12–24 months.
In this executive guide, Syneos Health oncology experts examine four strategic shifts to watch heading into ESMO 2026:
- AI is becoming foundational infrastructure, moving from experimentation toward practical applications across clinical development, translational research and trial operations.
- Precision oncology is moving beyond genomics, with circulating biomarkers, longitudinal monitoring and multimodal data increasingly informing development decisions.
- Platform technologies are redefining competitive advantage, as ADCs, in vivo cell therapies and other emerging approaches shift attention from individual assets toward scalable innovation.
- Clinical research is moving closer to patients, increasing the importance of community-based research, technology-enabled patient identification and more patient-centered trial models.
Download the executive guide to explore what these shifts could mean for oncology development — and the signals sponsors should be watching as ESMO separates promise from practice.
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