A new pairing cut the risk of death by 25% in a hard-to-treat bile-duct cancer

Biliary tract cancer — cancer of the bile ducts and gallbladder — is usually found late and has few good options. At the ESMO Congress 2026, researchers reported the HARMONi-GI1 Phase 3 trial, run in China where the disease is more common: patients receiving the drug ivonescimab plus chemotherapy were 25% less likely to die than those on the standard pairing of durvalumab plus chemotherapy. The cancer also stayed away longer — a median of 8.4 months before progressing, versus 5.8 months — and more than half of patients (53.8%) saw their tumours respond, compared with 32.5% on standard care. Lead researcher Jian Shou called the results 'potentially practice changing'. Side effects were manageable, with no new safety warnings — a genuine new first-line option taking shape for a cancer that badly needs one.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation