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On the basis of an Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group meta-analysis, it has been suggested that the controversy over post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) for women with 1–3 involved lymph nodes should end. However, the meta-analysis lacks appropriate sample size, stratification, and uses outdated systemic regimens. Thus, the debate should continue.

Mucinous colorectal cancer has, in the past, been associated with inferior responses to treatment, and worse patient outcomes compared with other colorectal cancer subtypes; although, this situation has improved in the past 10–15 years. In this Review, the authors describe the key developments that have enabled these improvements, in addition to the potential for further improvements in the care of patients with mucinous colorectal cancer.

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-screening technologies and HPV vaccination are revolutionizing the management of cancers related to this virus, in particular, cervical neoplasms. At present, however, the effectiveness of these modalities is not optimal, owing to the limited scope of HPV-vaccination and cervical screening programmes. In this Perspectives, an international panel of experts describes for the first time a new campaign, termed 'HPV-FASTER', which aims to broaden the use of HPV vaccination coupled with HPV testing to women aged up to 30 years, and in some settings up to 50 years, with the aim of accelerating the reduction in the incidence of HPV infections and cervical cancer. The authors describe the evidence supporting this approach and details on how it might be implemented, discuss the opportunities—particularly in low-resource settings—and challenges associated with the strategy, and highlight key research gaps that need to be addressed in future studies.

In the past, only patients with fully HLA-matched donors were able to benefit from blood or bone-marrow transplantation (BMT) for a variety of haematological malignancies. Owing to the development of a variety of immunomodulatory strategies, patients with no HLA-matched donor, who can therefore receive an HLA-haploidentical BMT, can expect the same or similar outcomes as those receiving HLA-matched BMT. In this Review, the authors describe the new approaches to immunomodulation that have made HLA-haploidentical BMT a realistic therapeutic approach.

Taxane-based regimens are among the preferred first-line chemotherapy options for metastatic breast cancer, with weekly paclitaxel considered equivalent to 3-weekly docetaxel. The CALGB 40502/NCCTG N063H (Alliance) trial has now compared bevacizumab plus weekly paclitaxel, nab-paclitaxel, or ixabepilone in this setting; ixabepilone was inferior and nab-paclitaxel was not superior, with a trend towards inferiority. Paclitaxel thus remains the standard-of-care taxane chemotherapy.

Stage IV gastric cancer is incurable and has a very poor prognosis. Although palliative chemotherapy remains the standard of care, increasing evidence indicates that palliative surgery can provide a prognostic and symptomatic benefit. This Perspectives summarizes the recent evidence underpinning the medical and surgical management of incurable gastric cancer, and provides evidence-based recommendations on treatment strategies and avenues for future research.

Metronomic chemotherapy has shown promising efficacy and minimal toxicity in patients with advanced-stage breast cancer. Moreover, the low cost of this regimen represents an opportunity for its expanded utilization, especially in developing countries. In this Review, the authors discuss the key clinical advances, including new trial design, appropriate patient and end point selection, and the evolving rationale for metronomic chemotherapy combinations.