This year’s ASCO Annual Meeting reaffirmed its status as the premier platform for innovation, collaboration and vision within the oncology community. The 2025 theme, “Driving Knowledge to Action—Building a Better Future,” emphasized the intersection of technology, advocacy and community—three pillars that are essential in translating scientific knowledge into meaningful clinical action.
The meeting underscored the urgent need to translate groundbreaking research into tangible improvements for patients. It provided invaluable insights into how this translation can be supported to foster widespread practice transformation.
Technology: Enhancing Education and Engagement
ASCO 2025 highlighted a transformative shift in how technology is being used to enhance education in oncology. The new ASCO Guidelines Assistant, an AI-powered tool developed in partnership with Google, exemplifies the cutting-edge resources now available to rapidly disseminate evidence-based guidance, ensuring oncologists can make informed decisions with greater speed and efficiency. This is crucial in the effort to democratize oncology care, in an era where the doubling time for medical knowledge is estimated to be just 73 days.
Discussions about AI were widespread at the meeting, including the expansion of AI's role beyond data analysis into clinical workflows and education. In fact, AI is now facilitating personalized learning journeys for healthcare professionals, offering quick access to trial data and helping reduce administrative burdens, which frees up valuable time for patient care and critical thinking.
The ASCO Voices session provided a crucial reminder that these technological advancements can be practice-changing, but the human element remains essential in communicating with patients. Furthermore, technology must always serve the patient. Balancing technological innovation with empathy is essential for creating communications that are both effective and compassionate.
Advocacy: Aligning Strategic Goals with Oncologist and Patient Needs
Advocacy emerged as a central theme, with a focus on bridging access gaps and ensuring that innovations reach all patients. The meeting framed advocacy as an action that begins at the clinical level, where every effort to dismantle a barrier for a patient is a vital contribution.
An inspiring example of that was the Michigan Society of Hematology/Oncology's (MSHO) successful legislative effort to create a cancer drug repository program. This initiative has provided over $23 million in free medicines, demonstrating the tangible impact of advocacy in making treatments accessible and reducing medical waste.
Personal narratives from the ASCO Voices session also powerfully illustrated this theme. Erica Neubert Campbell, a breast cancer survivor, spoke of reclaiming her power through "the power of choice" in her treatment journey. Similarly, Katie Coleman, who was told initially that she was "too young for cancer," transformed her experience into a powerful advocacy platform for rare cancers.
Their stories highlight that the empowerment of individual choice and the drive to create better outcomes for others is at the heart of advocacy. Aligning these grassroots advocacy efforts allows for a deeper, more meaningful partnership with the oncology community.
Community: Building Collaborative Networks for Enhanced Communication
ASCO 2025 powerfully underscored the critical role of community in fostering collaboration and achieving shared goals in oncology. The meeting emphasized the importance of building genuine, trust-based partnerships rather than transactional relationships.
This collaborative spirit was evident throughout the meeting, with ASCO President Dr. Robin T. Zon stating, “These early experiences highlight the strength of advocacy and community as powerful drivers of better patient outcomes.” This commitment ensures a unified approach to delivering high-quality care, notably through academically integrated networks that bridge the gap between academic faculty and community physicians.
The importance of an inclusive and understanding community was further illuminated by Ashton Davidson, a transgender person and cancer survivor. Their testimony underscored the importance of compassionate and holistic care as a life-saving healthcare approach and a vital pathway to safe and equitable cancer treatment, exemplifying how to better assist populations facing diverse barriers. Davidson's remarks emphasized that a truly supportive community actively champions the varied identities and comprehensive needs of all patients, fostering an environment where every individual feels seen, respected and empowered.
By actively participating in and contributing to these collaborative networks, we can leverage community insights to drive innovation and support oncologists in their mission to deliver the best possible care.
The Future of Medical Education: Innovative Approaches and Platforms
As technology improves, there is a corresponding need to evolve medical education to keep pace with clinical innovations. Traditional, passive learning models are insufficient in the face of rapidly expanding knowledge. The solution lies in applying learning principles and innovation to create more effective, efficient and scalable educational strategies.
Several key frameworks and tools found to be effective were highlighted at the ASCO 2025 meeting. They include:
- The Chain of Education: A deliberate approach to planning that considers the Who, Why, Where and What to determine the most effective How.
- CLEVR Learning: An acronym for effective teaching principles: Contrasting cases, Listening and participation, Elaboration, Visualization and Repetition.
- Innovative Formats: The embrace of digital media, specifically podcasts, was validated in a multicenter, cluster-randomized trial that showed the integration of podcasts significantly improved hematology/oncology fellows’ comfort with and knowledge of four medical topics. Gamification—using elements such as escape rooms, leaderboards and serious games—was presented as a powerful tool to increase motivation, engagement and learning.
- AI in Education: AI tools are already being used to create patient education materials, develop learning activities such as simulations, and analyze learning data to better understand learner needs.
These insights are leading to a shift toward creating dynamic, interactive and multi-format educational content that respects the immense cognitive load on clinicians and caters to modern learning habits.
Integrating Personal Narratives into Modern Communication
To truly resonate, clinical data and educational content must be made relatable and humanized. The ASCO Voices session drove this point home, with powerful stories of choice, loss and resilience. Dr. Naga Cheedella’s SPA technique (Stop, Process, Act)—a simple framework for listening and understanding what truly matters to patients—was particularly compelling. She reminded us that "cancer is not about treating disease or curing cancer. It is about managing cancer and living life with it."
That perspective is not just for the clinic; it is a powerful lens for medical communications. By integrating patient-centric storytelling and focusing on the holistic needs of patients, we can create educational initiatives that empower physicians not just with data, but with a renewed sense of purpose.
The insights from ASCO 2025 reinforce that strategic advantage lies in the synergy of advanced technology, purposeful advocacy and a strong, inclusive community—all anchored in empathy and authenticity. By harnessing these lessons, we can partner with our biopharma clients to drive innovation, support oncologists and truly build a better future in cancer care.