Five oncology trends to watch in 2025
Discover 5 oncology trends shaping cancer treatment in 2025, from AI-driven advancements to breakthrough therapies and precision medicine
Discover 5 oncology trends shaping cancer treatment in 2025, from AI-driven advancements to breakthrough therapies and precision medicine
Undruggable proteins are often characterized by large, complex structures or functions that are difficult to interfere with using conventional drug design strategies. New approaches to drug design have led to inhibitors tailored to target different mutations in the KRAS gene. For example, HRS-4642, an inhibitor specifically targeting KRAS G12D, has been successfully developed and has shown significant efficacy in monotherapy or in combination with carfilzomib for treating cancers harboring the KRAS G12D mutation. Early phase evaluations of agents targeting KRAS G12V, pan-KRAS, and pan-RAS are now underway. These advances offer a beacon of hope for cancer patients harboring KRAS gene mutations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are being increasingly integrated into cancer care. These technologies are enhancing our understanding of the tumor microenvironment and potentially identifying predictive biomarkers for both targeted agents and immunotherapy. For example, a collaboration between National Cancer Institute and the Department of Energy is using AI to simulate the atomic behavior of the RAS protein, one of the most commonly mutated proteins in cancer. A better understanding of how RAS interacts with other proteins could identify new avenues for targeting cancer-causing mutations in the RAS gene. At present, there are few, if any, validated biomarkers for selection of cancer immunotherapy beyond programmed death ligand 1, microsatellite instability status, and tumor mutational burden. The combination of high-resolution spatial technologies and implementation of AI/ML in digital pathology has the potential to identify additional predictive biomarkers as well as novel immunotherapy targets.
ADCs are now very well established and used in a wide range of malignancies (e.g., HER2-positive breast, lung, and esophageal cancers). In 2025, there will be a focus on identifying novel targets for these agents and improving ADC designs to reduce toxicity. We also can expect significant advances in therapeutic cancer vaccines in 2025. The same mRNA technology behind COVID-19 vaccines is now being used in the fight against cancer, and two ground-breaking trials using mRNA vaccines to target pancreatic cancer and non-small cell lung cancer are currently under way. In addition, therapeutic cancer vaccines are being tested across a broader spectrum of cancer types, including those with few mutations (e.g., glioblastoma) and highly mutated cancers (e.g., melanoma).
This year will witness continued advances in CAR T-cell therapies, including allogeneic CAR T-cells and those with multiple receptors, as well as evaluation of this therapy in two very aggressive cancers for which effective treatments are desperately needed, neuroblastoma and osteosarcoma. In addition, two new cellular therapies were approved in 2024 and we will learn much more about them in 2025. The FDA approved the first-ever tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, lifileucel, for the treatment of advanced melanoma; and famitresgene autoleucel, the first-ever T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy, for the treatment of advanced synovial sarcoma.
Gene editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 have the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment. This technology can be used to target or disable genes that drive cancer growth. It also can be employed to identify particular genetic mutations responsible for tumorigenesis and “eliminate” these pathways, thus impeding metastasis. Such an approach may provide a basis for highly personalized therapies explicitly adapted to a patient’s genetic profile. In addition, a novel CRISPR RNA-editing platform, Multiplexed Effector Guide Arrays, or MEGA, has demonstrated the ability to modify cellular RNA, which permitted regulation of immune cell metabolism in a way that boosted their ability to target tumors.
The oncology landscape in 2025 will be characterized by continued innovation with established therapies (e.g., ADCs) and emergence of completely novel approaches (e.g., new vaccines and DNA/RNA) editing. The integration of AI and advanced imaging technologies can be expected to contribute to treatment development and identification of predictive biomarkers to support precision medicine for cancer patients. The advancements in targeting previously “undruggable” mutations, particularly in the RAS pathway, represent a major breakthrough that builds on years of research and will continue to yield new therapeutic options for cancers that have been historically difficult to treat.
Karim Benjelloun has spent the last two decades of his career supporting and empowering brand teams, functional leads, franchise heads and organization leaders in their efforts to bring new and groundbreaking treatments to cancer patients. His focus skews heavily towards commercial excellence, team collaboration and effectiveness as well as organizational strategy and change.
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