Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Brings the Power of Its Integrated Network to ASCO 2026

PICI leaders, investigators, and collaborators are contributing to more than 50 oral sessions, posters, and publications across the meeting

SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) today announced that research and expertise from across its network will be on prominent display throughout the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting taking place May 29 – June 2. PICI leaders, investigators, and collaborators are contributing to more than 50 oral sessions, posters, and publications — a presence that reflects the breadth, urgency, and clinical momentum of the network's contributions to cancer immunotherapy.

The work spans from foundational discovery to practice-changing trials, including new data in glioblastoma, melanoma, prostate, breast, lung, and urothelial cancers; updated readouts on CAR T-cell and TIL-based therapies; personalized neoantigen vaccine strategies; and immune profiling platforms that aim to predict who will benefit from checkpoint inhibition.

Adding to this strong presence, PICI will unveil the latest results from its RADIOHEAD pan-cancer cohort, with new multimodal immunoprofiling data leveraging foundation models of the immune system to predict immunotherapy response and toxicity — building on the data that PICI featured at AACR earlier this year.

PICI will also announce the inaugural recipient of the Conquer Cancer PICI Endowed Young Investigator Award this year, to recognize an outstanding early-career clinical oncology investigator as they transition from fellowship training to faculty appointments.

"Cancer continues to demand urgency, and the PICI Network is designed to meet that challenge through coordinated, collaborative science," said Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of PICI. "Our participation at ASCO 2026 reflects the strength of this model, bringing together researchers and investigators to translate discoveries into meaningful progress for patients."

Presentation Highlights from the Network

Gliobastoma

Glioblastoma remains one of oncology's most difficult challenges, and the PICI Network is bringing data this year that build directly on the encouraging signals shared at ASCO 2025.

• University of Pennsylvania (Carl June, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Penn; Donald O'Rourke, MD): Updated overall survival, safety, and neurologic function outcomes from a Phase 1 trial of a bivalent CAR T-cell therapy in recurrent glioblastoma (Abstract 2013, oral session).
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Catherine J. Wu, MD; Patrick Ott, MD, PhD): A personalized neoantigen vaccine designed to reprogram the immune landscape of glioblastoma (Abstract 2006, oral session) — a continuation of PICI's long-standing commitment to neoantigen-based strategies in CNS cancers.
• Massachusetts General Hospital (Marcela Maus, MD, PhD): Rituximab pre-conditioning in the Phase 1 INCIPIENT trial of CARv3-TEAM-E for recurrent glioblastoma (Abstract 2059) — extending the CARv3-TEAM-E program that PICI has supported through earlier readouts.

Melanoma

• TrioMBM (Allison Betof, MD, PhD — Stanford): A multicenter Phase 2 trial of relatlimab, nivolumab, and ipilimumab in patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic melanoma brain metastases (Abstract TPS9604, lead author).
• OBX-115 TIL Therapy (Allison Betof, MD, PhD — Stanford): Phase 2 results of engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapy with regulatable membrane-bound IL-15 in advanced melanoma after ICI progression (Abstract 9507, oral session).
• STAMP (Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD — Weill Cornell Medicine): Updated outcomes from ECOG-ACRIN EA6174 evaluating adjuvant pembrolizumab in surgically treated Merkel cell carcinoma (Abstract LBA9505, late-breaking oral co-author).
• RELATIVITY-047 (F. Stephen Hodi, MD — Dana-Farber): A five-year update of nivolumab plus relatlimab in advanced melanoma (Abstract 9532), alongside a long-term indirect treatment comparison versus nivolumab plus ipilimumab (Abstract 9530).
• Botensilimab ± Balstilimab (Patrick Ott, MD, PhD — Dana-Farber): Phase 2 results in patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma refractory or resistant to anti–PD-(L)1 ± CTLA-4 (Abstract 9543).

Prostate Cancer

• RiboX (Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD — PICI): A randomized Phase Ib/II study of enzalutamide with and without ribociclib in patients with RB-retaining metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (Abstract 5057).
• CHAMP (Ana Aparicio, MD — MD Anderson): A Phase 2 multicenter trial of chemoimmunotherapy for patients with neuroendocrine or aggressive-variant metastatic prostate cancer (Abstract 5016, oral co-author).
• ENZAMET Correlatives (Eli Van Allen, MD — Dana-Farber): Germline genetic correlates in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer treated with ADT plus a non-steroidal anti-androgen or enzalutamide (Abstract 5099).
• C3NIRA (Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD; Sangeeta Goswami, MD, PhD; Ana Aparicio, MD — MD Anderson): Single-cell data on early chemo-induced tumor microenvironment alterations as a predictor of response to PD-1 blockade in aggressive-variant prostate cancer (Abstract 5065).

Breast Cancer

• P-RAD (TBCRC-053) (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD — Dana-Farber): Primary results from the triple-negative cohort of a randomized trial of no-, low-, or high-dose preoperative radiation with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in node-positive breast cancer (Abstract 1011, oral co-author).
• Post-NCIT Outcomes (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD — Dana-Farber): Outcomes after recurrence on neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy in patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract 601, oral co-author).
• ASPRIA (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD — Dana-Farber): A single-arm Phase 2 trial of atezolizumab with sacituzumab govitecan to prevent recurrence in triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract TPS644).

Lung & Urothelial Cancers

• RICHIS (Jonathan Villena-Vargas, MD — Weill Cornell Medicine): A randomized multicenter Phase 2 trial of radioimmunotherapy versus chemoimmunotherapy followed by surgery for c-stage IB–III non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract TPW8132, lead author).
• Urothelial ctDNA Dynamics (Sangeeta Goswami, MD, PhD — MD Anderson): Circulating tumor DNA dynamics as an early biomarker of response to enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab in advanced urothelial carcinoma (Abstract 4582).
• Macrophage Polarization in Urothelial Cancer (Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD — Icahn Mount Sinai): The CXCL9:SPP1 ratio as a predictor of outcomes with pembrolizumab or enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab in metastatic urothelial cancer (Abstract 4573).

Translational Platforms & Immune Profiling

• RADIOHEAD (John Connolly, PhD — PICI): Multimodal immunoprofiling of peripheral blood using foundation models of the immune system for predicting immunotherapy response and toxicity in the RADIOHEAD pan-cancer cohort (Abstract 2533).
• CTX-8371 (Patrick Ott, MD, PhD — Dana-Farber): Phase 1 dose escalation of a novel PD-1 × PD-L1 bispecific antibody in patients with advanced malignancies post checkpoint inhibition (Abstract 2629).
• Axi-Cel Real-World Outcomes (David Miklos, MD, PhD — Stanford): Long-term real-world outcomes of axicabtagene ciloleucel in relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (Abstract 7028).

About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI)
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization driving the next generation of cancer treatment by accelerating the development of breakthrough immune therapies to turn all cancers into curable diseases. Founded in 2016 through the vision of Sean Parker, PICI unites the nation's top cancer centers into a collaborative consortium that fuels high-risk, high-reward science with shared goals, data, and infrastructure. Unlike traditional research models, PICI goes beyond discovery by actively advancing promising innovations through clinical testing, company formation and incubation, and commercialization. PICI has supported more than 1,000 investigators across its network and has a portfolio that includes 17 biotech ventures with over $4B raised in capital. PICI is uniquely positioned to close the gap between scientific discovery and patient access. By integrating scientific excellence with entrepreneurial execution, PICI is reimagining how cures are made, and accelerating their path to the people who need them most. | Learn more about PICI: www.parkerici.org

Media Contact:
Kate Kaminsky
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
(475) 213-3198
[email protected]

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