An Expert Highlights His Key Takeaways From The 2025 ASCO GU Symposium

Following the 2025 Annual ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, Dr. Chandler Park sat down for an interview with CURE® to discuss the key takeaways from the meeting. One of the key messages that he highlighted was the importance of genetic testing.

In the interview he stated: “I would highly encourage that whenever you see an oncologist… ask for genetic testing — not just germline testing, but somatic.”

In the interview, he went on to highlight the importance of precision medicine, as well as discuss key trials in genitourinary cancers to come out of the ASCO GU Symposium. Read here for more of our interview with Park, a medical oncologist of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, at the Norton Healthcare Institute, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Transcript:

One key [takeaway from the ASCO GU Symposium] is for patients that have prostate cancer [or those with] family and loved ones [with prostate cancer]. It is important to [speak with] your oncologist. I help out at the medical schools, and I can sense that certain people go into oncology because they love people, and [these people] are open to feedback. Therefore, I would highly encourage that whenever you see an oncologist, if you have a history of prostate cancer in the family, ask for genetic testing — not just germline testing, but somatic.

[Speaking to] bladder cancer, there was another study that was updated, and this is something that all patients and their family members should know about, and that's called the phase 3 NIAGARA study. This is something that's applicable today. So, what's the NIAGRA study? The NIAGRA study evaluated patients in which we want to get a high cure rate. Previously, for patients that had cystectomy, the standard of care was chemotherapy, surgery and then afterwards was to watch followed by consideration of immunotherapy, but there was no overall survival.

However, based on the ASCO GU update, if a patient received chemotherapy with an immunotherapy called Imfinzi (durvalumab), they had a much higher chance, that after surgery, they would remain cured. Everybody today that has stage 2 bladder cancer and received treatment before the surgery should ask their medical oncologist for chemotherapy and an immunotherapy. Then, after surgery, maybe even consider immunotherapy afterwards. That's something I would encourage.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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