Liquid biopsy assays of diverse cancer-associated molecular alterations in blood, including genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomics changes, offer considerable opportunities for early detection of cancer as well as improved management of the disease. In this Perspective, the authors review key advances in liquid biopsy-based multi-omics approaches for biomarker discovery. They also introduce the ‘nano-omics’ paradigm, whereby nanotechnology tools are used to capture and enrich various cancer-derived analytes from biofluids for subsequent omics analyses, with the aim of developing novel biomarker panels for early cancer detection.

Radiotheranostics enables the clinician to image and then target lesions using the same probe. Despite this appealing potential, interest in the field of radiotheranostics has long been constrained by a lack of expertise, high infrastructure costs and the availability of non-radioactive alternative approaches. Nonetheless, several recent successes have led to renewed research interest. In this Review, the authors summarize the current challenges and opportunities in this rapidly emerging area.

A recent study not only confirms mounting evidence that technology-facilitated symptom monitoring improves care and should be considered for all patients with cancer, but also suggests that patient navigators can help to deliver such interventions. Herein we discuss how such an approach can minimize disparities and maximize access to culturally appropriate patient-centred care.

Neuroblastomas are tumours of sympathetic origins typically seen in infants (≤5 years of age). In this Review, the authors describe progress in the treatment of patients with neuroblastoma, which has resulted in considerable improvements in survival outcomes over the past several decades. The authors then summarize ongoing attempts to personalize therapy in patients with high-risk disease, and to safely de-escalate therapy in those with low-risk disease.