The more you treat, the more you cure? Challenging the dogma
I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to witness one of the great turning points in our approach to cancer. In March 1973, a medical student at Milan [more]
Number 73-74
Overtreatment is everywhere, fueled by anxiety, by anecdoctal bias, by the pressure of the administrators, by the need to feel safe. Will new generations have the same guts as our predecessors?... [ more ]
The invisible cure. Should we be talking more about cancer surgery?
The best chance of being cured of cancer is through surgery by expert surgeons with a deep knowledge of oncology. Why then are the public, patients and policy makers so focused on drugs, and does [more]
Too affordable: how can we overcome the drug repurposing paradox?
Looking for anticancer activity among off-patent drugs that are already approved to treat other conditions might seem a sensible way to speed up access to affordable new therapy options. Linda Geddes asks how such a [more]
Who truly represents the patient perspective?
As researchers, regulatory bodies and health systems give patients more of a voice in consultation and decision making, advocacy groups are questioning what it really means to represent the patient view. Simon Crompton reports. Nothing [more]
Joseph Gligorov: oncologue sans frontières
Based in a large Paris hospital, breast cancer specialist Joseph Gligorov feels privileged to be able to offer his patients a very high standard of care. He talks to Anna Rouillard about his efforts to [more]
Strengthening health systems IS our business
A narrow focus on cancer prevention, detection and care can only succeed as part of wider efforts to strengthen public health systems.The cancer community needs to start playing its part in that effort. Health systems [more]
Managing adult soft tissue sarcomas and gastrointestinal stromal tumours
Sarcomas and gastrointestinal stromal tumours include a wide variety of biologically diverse cancers, many of them very rare. Paolo Casali, a leading expert, presents an update of the latest evidence on the best way to [more]
TURNING POINT – “Independently from screening or treatment, over next decades, death from melanoma is likely to become an increasingly rare event”
Mortality data show that a precipitous rise in deaths from cutaneous melanoma in countries of northern Europe, Australia and north America, which started in the 1950s, may now be stabilising. Yet a paper published last [more]
New drugs for childhood cancers: could biotechs end the drought?
The chances of surviving a childhood cancer have changed very little over the past two decades. Sophie Fessl talked to parents, doctors, regulators and researchers about what has to be done to address this disastrous [more]
POLICY – Is Europe ready for centralised ethical approval?
Starting next year, trial sponsors can negotiate ethical approval in a member state of their choice, and have the same terms applied across all EU countries. Daniela Ovadia looks at the implications of the new regulation [more]
Therapeutic options in recurrent glioblastoma – an update
Standards of care are not yet defined for patients with recurrent glioblastoma. In this critical review, Katharina Seystahl and colleagues summarise the available literature for patients with recurrent (progressive) glioblastoma treated with repeat surgery, re-irradiation, [more]
RISKS & BENEFITS – Can’t we learn any faster?
Patients who have run out of options don’t have time to wait for lengthy trials. But they also need treatments that offer proven benefit, and not just hope. Peter McIntyre asks whether we can speed [more]
Harnessing big data to drive up quality of care
Pooling data that tell the unique story of each cancer patient reveals patterns that could help us learn about which treatments work best for which patients in everyday clinical practice – and about which clinics [more]
HOT SEAT: Fortunato Ciardiello – ESMO President
Fortunato Ciardiello took on the presidency of the European Society for Medical Oncology at a time when the profession is being required to deliver treatments of unprecedented complexity and cost. Cancer World Editor, Alberto Costa, [more]