The 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), the biggest annual meeting on lung cancer research, recently wrapped up, and the oncology community is abuzz. From September 12 to 15, the conference hosted more than 8,000 delegates from over 100 countries. Attendees included representatives from several prominent pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that released new study data at the conference. Several major storylines emerged, including promising news regarding antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) lung cancer studies and one major note of caution regarding trials conducted in China. Read on for our take.
Lung Cancer Advancements Presented Amid Cautionary Tales
Organized by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the WCLC has been a major venue for presenting research since its inception in 1978. In that time, the conference has grown into the largest global meeting devoted specifically to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Many major developments in lung cancer research have emerged from WCLC, spanning everything from immunotherapy to liquid biopsy techniques. This year, attention was directed toward promising developments in ADC studies in lung cancer, as well as less promising studies from China.
All Eyes on ADC Lung Cancer Studies
ADCs, ultra-targeted biopharmaceutical cancer treatments, attracted a lot of attention at this year’s WCLC. These drugs were already a popular topic of conversation due to their relatively non-damaging approach, which spares the majority of the healthy tissue surrounding tumors. Two ADCs discovered by China-based biotechs and licensed in recent deals to Roche and GSK were showcased for their potential to treat small cell lung cancer. These difficult-to-treat cases account for up to 15 percent of lung cancer cases. They grow and spread quite quickly, often before detection. Typical treatments currently involve chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation, but the ADCs showcased at the conference could soon change the standard of care.
Aimed at the protein B7-H3, which is overexpressed in small-cell lung cancer, these treatments have outperformed chemotherapy in clinical trials. For example, in one Phase III study, Roche’s treatment was tested against the chemotherapy topotecan, which is generally used to treat small-cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer. The treatment was tested in individuals whose disease had progressed after chemotherapy. At the conference, Roche presented data showing that the drug reduced the risk of death by 54 percent compared with topotecan.
Concerns Surround China-Based Development Programs
Both GSK and Roche’s ADC findings need to be reproduced in international trials, which dovetails with a major concern that emerged during one presentation at the conference: that companies running studies with promising results in China may not be able to replicate those results in other countries.
In June, Gilead Sciences and Merck & Co. announced that they were halting a multicountry study testing their respective drugs, Keytruda and Trodelvy, in frontline treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. This happened after researchers determined that a survival benefit was unlikely, despite the drug showing promise in China-only studies.
China-only development programs have come under fire for several reasons, namely that they may not adequately represent US patients or contemporary US clinical practice. In 2022, for example, experts warned about the increasing number of oncology drug development programs based wholly or predominantly on data from China that were intended to secure approval for use of the therapies in the US. Experts continue to express qualms about data from any country that may have historically been underrepresented in multi-regional clinical trials, particularly when that data may pertain to US applications. Proposed solutions include pursuing more multi-regional trials to ensure that demographic issues, including differences in supportive care, social and cultural determinants, and even differences in average body mass, don’t interfere with these promising studies.
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Overall, WCLC 2026 introduced potentially practice-changing clinical data in thoracic oncology, driving home the importance of collaboration in clinical research. Takeaways involving ADCs, along with cautionary guidance related to international studies, will only strengthen the field as lung cancer experts work to improve patient outcomes.
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