ESMO Open—Cancer Horizons and the future of oncology

In recent years we have witnessed an almost complete repositioning of oncology. Our understanding of the basic biology of the disease has evolved,1 as has our view of cancers that were once considered as a single entity and are now known to be composed of a wide variety of molecular subgroups.2 In tandem, the landscape of cancer therapy has also changed, with cancer treatment shifting from largely non-specific cytotoxic procedures to sophisticated treatment options targeting selected signal transduction pathways or single driver mutations, facilitating precision therapies and their use in specific, clearly characterised molecular situations.3 The recent introduction of immunological treatment modalities aimed at modulating and neutralising tumour-induced suppression of immunocompetent cells in the tumour microenvironment is also heralding a potent new approach in the treatment of cancer.4 The enormous progress in drug development5 can be attributed to a range of aspects: results from the Cancer Genome …