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A systems biology-based approach incorporating multiscale, longitudinal measurements (from single-cell analyses to whole-body monitoring) would help to decipher the complexity of cancer and would facilitate the development of personalized therapies. The authors of this Perspective discuss how systems biology-based approaches can provide data for early detection of disease transitions, prediction of therapeutic responses and clinical outcomes, and for the design of personalized treatments.
Oncology phase I trials have been traditionally referred to as ‘toxicity trials’. The distinction of clinical trials into three phases has been challenged in the past few years, leading to the current situation in which response rates are increasingly reported from phase I trials. The authors dissect the ethical dilemmas surrounding the therapeutic intent of phase I trials and provide evidence of contemporary phase I trials as a therapeutic option for patients with cancer.
The authors of this Perspective critically evaluate various artificial intelligence (AI)-based computational approaches used for digital pathology and provide a broad framework to incorporate these tools into clinical oncology, discussing challenges such as the need for well-curated validation datasets, regulatory approval and fair reimbursement strategies.
The oligometastatic paradigm challenges the prevailing view of metastasis as a disseminated process and proposes the existence of a spectrum of biological virulence within metastatic lesions. The authors present evidence for this heterogeneity and discuss how it affects the staging and treatment of patients with metastatic cancer.
Historically, academic surgeons, so-called surgeon scientists, have been at the forefront of cancer research. However, the role of the surgeon scientist is changing, and concerns have been raised about declines in the number of surgeons performing basic science research alongside clinical activity. Herein, the multifactorial drivers of these changes are discussed and strategies to increase surgical engagement in oncology research are described.
