Advances in the Metastatic Anal Carcinoma Treatment Landscape

At Great Debates Solid Tumors in Miami, Florida, Cathy Eng, MD, from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee, discusses recent updates in anal carcinoma, highlighting rising incidence and ongoing unmet needs in advanced disease. 

Dr Eng reviews new phase 3 data supporting chemotherapy plus immune checkpoint inhibition with retifanlimab in treatment-naive metastatic anal cancer and emphasizes the need for continued clinical trial development, particularly in the second-line setting.

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Dr Cathy Eng and I'm a professor at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. I'm here today to talk about what I lectured on earlier, specifically regarding updates on anal carcinoma in 2026.

I spent the time really emphasizing the importance of acknowledging that this is an area of growing incidence, specifically in the United States, but also globally. 

90% of all cases are HPV related, approximately 36% five-year survival for metastatic anal carcinoma based upon prior data, so we need to really encourage people to participate in clinical trials whenever available and understand that currently there appears to be some new information, regarding phase 3 data from the PODIUM-303 study, which indicates that chemotherapy plus immune checkpoint inhibition with retifanlimab has been approved for treatment-naive metastatic anal carcinoma patients.

There is another trial in the United States as well with pending results, EA-2176, which is an NCI-sponsored phase 3 trial that is looking at the role of chemotherapy plus immune checkpoint inhibition. 

There's really an opportunity for drug development in the second-line setting for people interested in designing new clinical trials or sponsoring new clinical trials. It's really an unmet need for this patient population.

Source: 

Eng C. Updates on anal carcinoma in 2026. Presented at Great Debates - Solid Tumors; Miami, Florida. March 14-15, 2026.