This Week in Oncology — Jul 31, 2026

Editor's Pick: Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Thermal Ablation in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Phase 3 TORCH Randomized Clinical Trial (JAMA Oncology, 2026)
Welcome to This Week in Oncology. This week we're covering 7 notable papers spanning localized therapy optimization, neoadjuvant immunotherapy combinations, and precision oncology insights. Let's dive in.

Optimizing localized therapies while minimizing systemic toxicities remains a cornerstone of oncological care across diverse solid tumors.
This week's papers:
• Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Thermal Ablation in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Phase 3 TORCH Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA Oncology 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42530948)
• Cemiplimab and Fianlimab With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Early-Stage High-Risk ERBB2-Negative Breast Cancer: The I-SPY2 Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA Oncology 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42530945)
• Feasibility and activity of concurrent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcoma — Clinical Cancer Research 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42531374)
• Microsatellite Instability Identifies a Rare but Clinically Relevant Subset of Sarcomas: Insights from the Largest Clinically Sequenced Cohort with Therapeutic Implications — Clinical Cancer Research 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42531431)
• Investigation of a prostate cancer radiation response signature in the breast cancer SweBCG91RT randomized trial — Clinical Cancer Research 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42531378)
• "SMAC"-down for the apoptosis-restoring drug, Xevinapant: What does its story reveal? — Clinical Cancer Research 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42530414)
• Neoadjuvant olaparib and pembrolizumab combination therapy in the treatment of patients with HRD-positive advanced ovarian cancer: A pilot study — Clinical Cancer Research 2026 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42531373)
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