OncLive Poll Results Reveal Most Anticipated GI Cancer Abstracts and Subtypes Ahead of ESMO 2025

With the 2025 ESMO Congress set to kick off on October 17 in Berlin, Germany, OncLive is ready to help you prepare for the most anticipated gastrointestinal (GI) cancer abstracts and topics set to be discussed at this year’s meeting.

OncLive conducted polls on both X and LinkedIn to determine which GI oncology cancer abstracts and disease areas oncology specialists were most eager to learn about during the congress.

See the results of our 2 polls below, plus more on the abstracts to watch.

Poll Results

Poll 1 – Which GI cancer abstract are you most anticipating at ESMO 2025?

• LBA81: Final overall survival (OS) and the association of pathological outcomes with event-free survival (EFS) in MATTERHORN: A randomised, phase III study of durvalumab (D) plus 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT) in resectable gastric / gastroesophageal junction (G / GEJ) adenocarcinoma
• LBA79: Lenvatinib plus Pembrolizumab and Chemotherapy vs Pembrolizumab and Chemotherapy in Untreated Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: The Randomized Phase 3 LEAP-014 Study
• LBA33: Circulating Tumor (ct) DNA-Guided Anti-EGFR Rechallenge Strategy in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC): Final results of the phase II randomized CITRIC trial
• LBA32: Panitumumab retreatment followed by regorafenib versus the reverse sequence in chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer patients with RAS and BRAF wild-type circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA): Final results of the randomized PARERE trial by GONO

Capturing 71.4% of the vote on X (n = 7) and 54% of the vote on LinkedIn (n = 13), the phase 3 MATTERHORN trial (NCT04592913) won out on both platforms as the top GI cancer abstract to watch during the meeting. After a presentation at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting demonstrated that the combination of durvalumab (Imfinzi) and FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) improved event-free survival (EFS) vs placebo plus FLOT in patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, investigators will share final overall survival (OS) data during ESMO 2025.1

Rounding out the first poll, respondents also voted for the phase 3 LEAP-014 trial (NCT04949256) evaluating lenvatinib (Lenvima) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LinkedIn, 31%; X, 14.3%), the phase 2 CITRIC trial investigating cetuximab (Erbitux) plus irinotecan rechallenge in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) based on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) status (8%; 14.3%), and the phase 2 PARERE trial (NCT04787341) evaluating panitumumab (Vectibix) retreatment, followed by regorafenib (Stivarga), compared with the opposite sequence in patients with mCRC that was refractory to chemotherapy (8%; 0%).

Poll 2 – Which GI cancer subtype is driving the most interest ahead of ESMO 2025?

• Gastric/GEJ (LinkedIn, 25%; X, 44.4%)
• Pancreatic (43%; 33.3%)
• CRC (25%; 22.2%)
• HCC (9%; 0%)

Read on below to see more details on the abstracts highlighted in the first poll. For an in-depth preview of the top GI cancer abstracts to watch at ESMO 2025—featuring insights from experts in the field—check here.

Abstracts to Watch

LBA81

MATTERHORN was a randomized, double-blind study that evaluated durvalumab plus FLOT vs placebo plus FLOT in patients with resectable gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma. Final OS data will be shared after prior data highlighted an improvement in pathologic complete response rate and EFS with the durvalumab regimen.

LBA79

The LEAP-014 trial was and open-label study where patients with untreated metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were randomly assigned to receive lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab and chemotherapy vs pembrolizumab and chemotherapy alone.

LBA33

The phase 2 CITRIC trial was a randomized study intended to evaluate a ctDNA-guided anti-EGFR rechallenge strategy in patients with mCRC, where patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type disease based on ctDNA. Selected patients were randomly assigned to cetuximab rechallenge or standard therapy. Prior data showed ctDNA selection significantly improved response rate and disease control rate in the experimental arm.2

LBA32

PARERE was a randomized trial comparing two treatment sequences—panitumumab followed by regorafenib vs regorafenib followed by panitumumab—in patients with chemorefractory, RAS/BRAF wild-type ctDNA mCRC.

References

1. Janjigian Y, Al-Batran S-E, Wainberg Z, et al. Event-free survival (EFS) in MATTERHORN: a randomized, phase 3 study of durvalumab plus 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel chemotherapy (FLOT) in resectable gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJC). J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(suppl 17):LBA5. doi:10.1200/JCO.2025.43.17_suppl.LBA5
2. Santos Vivas C, Vidal Barrull J, Fernandez Rodriguez C, et al. Third line rechallenge with cetuximab (Cet) and irinotecan in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) selected metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients: The randomized phase II CITRIC trial. Ann Oncol. 2024;35(suppl 2):S433-S434. doi:10.1016/j.annonc.2024.08.580