Precision Oncology in 2026: Key Takeaways from the London Congress

The International Oncology Congress 2026, held in London, was by any measure the most substantive gathering of oncology researchers in the conference's 14-year history. Over three days, 900 delegates from 80 countries presented or reviewed data spanning 148 scientific sessions. Here we distil the five most important clinical insights for practising oncologists.

First and most impactful: liquid biopsy is entering routine clinical practice. Multiple presentations confirmed that circulating tumour DNA analysis now provides actionable treatment guidance in colorectal, lung, and breast cancer with sensitivity levels that approach tissue biopsy — at a fraction of the cost and with serial monitoring capability that tissue biopsy cannot match.

Second, the ADC (Antibody-Drug Conjugate) era is accelerating. Five new ADC agents presented at the congress showed overall survival improvements over standard of care in previously refractory patient populations. The pipeline now contains over 200 ADC candidates in clinical development globally.

Third, artificial intelligence for treatment response prediction is approaching clinical validation. A neural network model presented by the Cambridge Cancer Institute predicted 12-month overall survival in non-small-cell lung cancer with 88% accuracy using only pre-treatment imaging and genomic data — surpassing the multidisciplinary team consensus in a blinded validation study.