Top 5 Papers
#1
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine | Authors: Botteri E, Holme Ø, Løberg M, Bretthauer M, Kalager M, Randel KR, Hoff G, et al. | Published: May 12, 2026
Score: 13/20 — Base 7 (Annals of Internal Medicine, major medicine journal) + 3 (Phase III RCT) + 2 (mortality / survival benefit in men) + 1 (practice-supporting screening evidence at 23 years) = 13
Longest follow-up to date of any colorectal cancer (CRC) screening RCT. NORCCAP randomized 100,210 Norwegian adults aged 50–64 (98,654 in the intention-to-screen analysis; 20,552 screening vs 78,102 no screening) to once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy ± one fecal immunochemical test, or no screening. Screening participation was 61.4% in men and 64.7% in women. At 23 years, cumulative CRC incidence was 4.3% vs 6.0% in men (risk difference −1.7 percentage points, 95% CI −2.2 to −1.2) and 4.2% vs 4.7% in women (−0.5 pp, 95% CI −1.0 to −0.01). CRC mortality dropped from 2.2% to 1.4% in men (−0.8 pp, 95% CI −1.1 to −0.5) but did not change meaningfully in women (1.3% vs 1.4%; −0.1 pp). The effect was strongest for rectosigmoid cancer, and adding fecal blood testing to sigmoidoscopy did not augment screening benefit. The result reframes the contemporary debate triggered by the 13-year NORDICC update by showing that sigmoidoscopy benefit is durable, sex-asymmetric, and concentrated where the scope actually reaches — a finding that should sharpen modeling of organized programs that mix sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and FIT.
Post angle: Longest CRC screening RCT ever: 23-year NORCCAP shows single sigmoidoscopy keeps cutting CRC incidence and mortality — but only meaningfully in men. Distal-anchored benefit. #CRC #GIOnc #Screening
#2
Source: Nature Communications | Authors: Zhang P, Niu Z, Guo H, Zhang M, Jiang S, Cao B, … Gong J, Zhou J, Shen L, et al. (Peking University Cancer Hospital, TransThera Sciences) | Published: May 11, 2026
Score: 10/20 — Base 6 (Nature Communications) + 2 (Phase II) + 1 (biomarker-guided, FGFR2 fusion subgroup) + 1 (activity in FGFR-inhibitor-refractory CCA, an unmet need) = 10
Phase Ib/II trial (NCT05253053) of tinengotinib, a spectrum-selective oral multi-kinase inhibitor (FGFR1–3, JAK1/2, VEGFRs, Aurora A/B), tested as monotherapy in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors (Arm A, n=53) and combined with atezolizumab in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (Arm B, n=31). The MTD was not reached and the regimen was well tolerated. Across the full cohorts, the overall response rate was 16.7% with monotherapy and 22.6% with the tinengotinib + atezolizumab combination. In the prespecified cholangiocarcinoma subgroups, monotherapy ORR was 30.8% (4/13) and combination ORR was 25.0% (7/28). Notably, in cholangiocarcinoma harboring an FGFR2 fusion and previously progressing on an FGFR inhibitor, tinengotinib monotherapy delivered an ORR of 66.7% — the strongest signal yet for re-treating FGFR-inhibitor-refractory disease. Among patients with cholangiocarcinoma previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (n=20), the combination achieved ORR 20% and disease-control rate 75%. The data support advancing tinengotinib into Phase III as both single-agent and IO-combination strategies for BTC.
Post angle: Cholangio just got a real second-line FGFR option: tinengotinib delivers 66.7% ORR after prior FGFR inhibitor in FGFR2-fusion CCA. Combo with atezo also active. The drug we’ve needed post-pemigatinib/futibatinib. #Cholangiocarcinoma #BTC #GIOnc
#3
Source: Hepatology | Authors: Gupta P, Singh S, Gulati A, Mudgil P, Kalra N, Premkumar M, Taneja S, … Duseja A, et al. (PGIMER Chandigarh) | Published: May 11, 2026
Score: 9/20 — Base 6 (Hepatology, comparable to Clinical Cancer Research tier) + 2 (prospective diagnostic accuracy study with paired imaging) + 1 (early-stage detection / biomarker-guided surveillance) = 9
Prospective single-center study (NCT05716620) enrolling 404 cirrhotic patients with annual HCC risk >5% who underwent paired surveillance with ultrasound (US) and rapid non-contrast abbreviated MRI (AMRI) across two rounds 6 months apart (614 paired exams). Multiphasic contrast-enhanced MRI was the reference standard, triggered by any positive screen. AMRI substantially outperformed US: per-patient sensitivity 94.6% (95% CI 83.3–98.9) vs 51.4% (34.7–67.8), specificity 96.6% vs 69.5% (both p<0.001), AUROC 0.956 vs 0.604 (p<0.001), per-lesion detection 37/39 (94.9%) vs 20/39 (51.3%). Critically, 97.3% of AMRI-detected HCCs were BCLC stage 0 or A — the curable window. Interobserver agreement was 'almost perfect' for AMRI (κ=0.929) vs 'moderate' for US (κ=0.631). If confirmed in patient-level outcomes trials, a 10-minute non-contrast MRI could meaningfully reshape HCC surveillance — particularly for obesity-driven MASLD cirrhosis where US sensitivity is known to be poor.
Post angle: HCC surveillance may be due for a regime change. AMRI sensitivity 94.6% vs ultrasound 51.4% (p<0.001), and 97% of MRI-found HCCs are early-stage. Time to ask whether US is still the right default in MASLD cirrhosis. #HCC #LiverCancer #GIOnc
#4
Source: ASCO Educational Book 2026 | Authors: Yoon J, Chen CY, Watson R, Smyth E, Wainberg Z, Oh DY | Published: May 7, 2026
Score: 7/20 — Base 5 (ASCO Educational Book) + 1 (synthesis of Phase III evidence) + 1 (biomarker-guided / precision oncology framework) = 7
Comprehensive ASCO 2026 educational synthesis of how gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer treatment has been redrawn by perioperative immunochemotherapy (KEYNOTE-585, MATTERHORN, NEOSUMMIT-01) and by the expansion of biomarker-driven systemic therapy beyond HER2. The authors map the now-validated claudin18.2 target (zolbetuximab; bispecifics; CAR-T) alongside emerging actionable alterations including MET (e.g., the c-Met TOP1i ADC telisotuzumab adizutecan / ABBV-400) and TROP2 (datopotamab deruxtecan), and frame the sequencing considerations that arise when biomarkers coexpress. They detail next-generation modalities — antibody–drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, CAR-T, and tumor vaccines — and argue that comprehensive next-generation sequencing should now be the standard up-front diagnostic step in advanced gastric/GEJ disease. Essential reading for clinicians needing a current scaffold for selecting and sequencing therapy in 2026.
Post angle: If you treat gastric/GEJ cancer, this ASCO Edu Book chapter is the cleanest 2026 map of the new landscape — perioperative IO, claudin18.2, MET, TROP2, ADCs, bispecifics, CAR-T — and how to sequence them. #GastricCancer #GEJ #GIOnc
#5
Source: Gastroenterology | Authors: Belz L, van den Heuvel D, Kilani B, Martinez-Navarro A, … Massberg S, Ishikawa-Ankerhold H, Stark K (LMU Munich) | Published: May 6, 2026
Score: 7/20 — Base 6 (Gastroenterology, Tier-1 GI journal) + 1 (translational / mechanistic) = 7
PDAC metastasizes early to liver and remains immunotherapy-resistant. Using LysMcre-PCG5-tdt mice and intravital calcium imaging combined with single-cell RNA sequencing of liver-infiltrating leukocytes, the LMU Munich group shows that neutrophils are recruited to PDAC hepatic metastases via CCL2/CCL5, then take up tumor-cell fragments through trogocytosis and present them to hepatic macrophages. This neutrophil-driven transfer suppresses the development of immunosuppressive macrophages through C3-dependent signaling and enhances anti-tumor signaling pathways. Depleting neutrophils abolishes this restraint and flips macrophages into a permissive, tumor-promoting phenotype. The work overturns the simple 'neutrophils = bad in PDAC' narrative and identifies the neutrophil–macrophage trogocytosis axis as a previously unrecognized lever for immunotherapy in metastatic PDAC, with translational implications for how we sequence and combine cellular and macrophage-directed strategies in the most immune-cold GI cancer we treat.
Post angle: Counterintuitive PDAC liver-met biology: deplete neutrophils and the macrophages turn pro-tumor. Intravital imaging + scRNA-seq pin neutrophil trogocytosis as a brake on hepatic metastasis. Rethinking the neutrophil-as-villain narrative in PDAC. #PDAC #PancreaticCancer #GIOnc
Additional Papers of Interest
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Endoscopy — Pooled neoplastic recurrence 1.2% / 1.4% / 1.9% at 1, 3, and 5 years post-ESD; malignant recurrence rare (0.2%) and confined to non-curative resections, supporting extended 3–5-year surveillance for low-risk R0-resected lesions
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Techniques in Coloproctology — ESD slashes local recurrence (0.62% vs 12.02%; OR 0.07) but raises perforation risk (5.38% vs 1.53%; OR 3.16); delayed bleeding is comparable, reinforcing ESD as the preferred technique in expert centers
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BMC Cancer — Two-stage GBC-DiagNet (3D Attention U-Net + adaptive feature fusion) trained on 300 patients reaches AUC 0.971 (sensitivity 96.2%, specificity 91.2%), outperforming ResNet/ViT/ConvNeXt by 7–8% — a potential AI-assisted screen for an aggressive cancer with <5% 5-yr OS
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Scientific Reports — Robotic colorectal resection (n=161) showed a significantly lower 24-h postoperative ΔIL-6 surge than laparoscopic surgery (n=153), with the largest stress-mitigation effect seen in older, obese, and comorbid patients — strengthening the case for robotic platforms in high-risk colorectal oncology cases
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Future Oncology (plain-language summary) — STRIDE confirms a sustained long-term OS tail in advanced HCC, reinforcing the dual immune-checkpoint regimen as a durable 1L option for patients unsuitable for bevacizumab and informing sequencing alongside atezolizumab + bevacizumab
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JNCI Cancer Spectrum — In patients with advanced lung, gastric, colorectal, liver, or pancreatobiliary cancer, inpatient PC consultation cut 30-day ICU admissions from 9.2% to 1.9% (aOR 0.17) and 30-day medical costs by 35%, with no increase in ED visits or readmissions
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