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Despite the achievement of locoregional control, a third of patients undergoing surgery for cancer will have disease recurrence. In this Review, the authors describe the potential to optimize the outcomes of patients with cancer by minimizing inflammation and activation of the sympathetic nervous system in the perioperative period, which is often achievable with simple and cost-effective changes in patient-management strategies.
Muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a heterogeneous disease for which treatment has, historically, lagged behind that of other solid tumour types. A more detailed understanding of the biology of individual tumours, and the identification of molecular features providing prognostic and predictive information is key to the application of personalized care for patients with MIBC. The publication of a study of 412 samples now provides such data.
In 2017, three groundbreaking immunotherapies for relapsed and/or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were approved based on impressive outcomes observed in clinical trials. Additional breakthroughs included seminal research into ALL genomics and the importance of adherence to chemotherapy, which will have direct implications for clinical care.
Precision cancer medicine has the potential to dramatically improve the outcomes of patients with cancer; however, despite the precise nature of the therapies involved, generating reliable evidence of efficacy is often challenging. In this Perspective, the authors describe the challenges and potential solutions that might address the need for evidence in precision cancer medicine.
Data published in 2017 underscore the benefit of optimizing anti-HER2 therapy in early stage high-risk HER2-positive disease, and of capecitabine in patients with residual disease after optimal neoadjuvant therapy. In the advanced-stage setting, endocrine therapy combined with cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors, or olaparib could become the preferred option.
2017 saw the publication of clinical trial data and the approval of new treatment approaches for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Pembrolizumab is now a well-established treatment for patients with disease progression after cisplatin, with high-level evidence supporting its superiority over second-line chemotherapy. For patients ineligible for cisplatin, atezolizumab and pembrolizumab provide meaningful clinical benefit as frontline therapies.