Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH, highlights key prostate cancer data from ESMO 2026

In this video, Alicia K. Morgans, MD, MPH, discusses key prostate cancer findings presented at the 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress, including results from the DASL-HiCaP (NCT04136353), CAPItello-281 (NCT04493853), and a phase 1 study of JNJ-6143 (NCT06800313). Morgans is a genitourinary medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

Morgans begins by highlighting findings from the phase 3 DASL-HiCaP trial, which evaluated darolutamide (Nubeqa) added to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and primary or salvage locoregional radiation therapy in patients with very high-risk localized or recurrent prostate cancer. The study demonstrated that the addition of darolutamide improved metastasis-free survival (HR, 0.42) and other disease control end points compared with ADT and radiation alone.¹ She notes that these results raise questions about how differences in patient populations and treatment approaches may help explain contrasting findings from the ENZARAD trial (NCT02446444) presented at ESMO 2025.

Morgans also discusses overall survival (OS) findings from CAPItello-281, which evaluated capivasertib (Truqap) plus abiraterone and ADT vs abiraterone plus ADT alone in patients with PTEN-deficient metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. The results showed a numerical improvement in OS with the addition of capivasertib in this population (HR, 0.82),² which is associated with more aggressive disease biology. She explains that these findings may offer an additional treatment option for patients with PTEN-deficient disease.

Finally, Morgans reviews early-phase data for JNJ-6143, an investigational regulated induced proximity targeting chimera (RIPTAC) therapy, in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Despite a median of 4 prior lines of therapy, the agent demonstrated substantial prostate-specific antigen responses and a disease control rate of 88%.³ Morgans describes the findings as encouraging, particularly given the potential for durable disease control.

“Coming away from ESMO 2026, [there’s] so much data and so much positive data,” Morgans concluded. “I really feel like the outlook is optimistic, and ESMO 2026 really helped to solidify that optimism and really add excitement to the field.”

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REFERENCES

1. Niazi T, Thomas H, Zhang A, et al. Darolutamide with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and definitive or salvage locoregional radiation therapy (RT) for localised, very high-risk prostate cancer: Interim analysis of an international, placebo-controlled, randomised phase 3 trial (DASL-HiCaP; ANZUP1801). Presented at: European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2026; October 23-27, 2026, Madrid, Spain. Abstract LBA4 https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/m-anage.com.storage.esmo/static/esmo2026_abstracts/LBA4.html.pdf

2. Fizazi K, Clarke NW, De Santis M, et al. Capivasertib (capi) + abiraterone (abi) vs placebo (pbo) + abi in patients (pts) with PTEN-deficient metastatic hormonesensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC): Updated overall survival (OS) from CAPItello-281. Presented at: 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. October 23-27, 2026. Madrid, Spain. LBA56. https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/m-anage.com.storage.esmo/static/esmo2026_abstracts/LBA56.html.pdf

3. Garmezy B, Sahota S, Wang JS, et al. Safety and efficacy of JNJ-6143, a first-in-class oral AR-targeted regulated induced proximity targeting chimera at the optimal dose for further development in patients with mCRPC/mAPMR, including high-risk molecular features. Presented at: 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. October 23-27, 2026. Madrid, Spain. Abstract 22160. https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/m-anage.com.storage.esmo/static/esmo2026_abstracts/2216O.html.pdf