Taking the Next Step

OncLive Chairman,

Mike Hennessy

The big story in oncology research for the past several years has been the emergence of immunotherapy as a viable strategy for attacking many different tumor types.

Yet while the headlines and the financial markets grow frothy with enthusiasm, practicing oncologists know that there’s much more work that must been done before patients can reap the benefits of these advances.

In this issue of OncologyLive, we report on an emerging body of knowledge that is coalescing around the optimal use of immunotherapies in the clinic. Our cover story, “New Paradigms Emerge for Translating Immunotherapy Into Broad Clinical Use,” offers the insights of some of the world’s leading immunologists.

One of the most fascinating aspects of these new paradigms is the concept of scoring a tumor based on immune status in much the same way as patients are now staged according to the TNM system. In the not too distant future, we likely will have the tools to evaluate a patient’s immune status at diagnosis and thus better guide the use of an immunotherapeutic agent.

Perhaps some day soon, oncologists will be expanding their patient workups to include an “immunoscore.”

Elsewhere in this issue, we present news and views on other pressing matters confronting the development and implementation of potentially beneficial new drugs. Our coverage of the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium includes a report on the I-SPY 2 trial, which may serve as a model for evaluating novel treatment regimens in a more efficient time frame. And, Maurie Markman, MD, our editor-in-chief, discusses the ways in which the “superiority” standard in clinical trials can become a barrier for new therapies that stumble over a statistical hurdle yet still help patients.

Although much progress has been made in cancer science and treatment, vast areas of uncharted territory remain. Our goal is to keep oncology specialists up to date on integrating emerging therapeutics into their practices. Please let us know what you would like to see in the pages of this magazine.

As always, thank you for reading.