Projections by the European Commission – Joint Research Centre from Ispra, Italy, estimate a 21.4% increase in cancer cases in 20 years’ time 

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare and fatal disease with very little improvement in survival in recent years, mirroring very limited therapeutic advances. After a long-awaited time, improvement in patient survival was achieved with the introduction of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in the first-line setting, as demonstrated in the CheckMate 743 trial.

Findings from several studies highlight the increasing utility of this approach to identify druggable genetic alterations 

Most, but not all, patients on chemotherapy or immunotherapy for solid tumours had an adequate immune response after two doses of mRNA-1273 vaccination, with no new safety concerns 

In the NeoTRIPaPDL1 study, combining information from biomarker analysis at baseline and during treatment was informative on clinical benefit

Results show it may help to define more homogeneous subgroups of patients with grade II–III glioma for more timely and effective cancer care

A Japanese study reports discrepancies among centres, highlighting the need for better strategies to improve the quality of treatment recommendations 

Rare tumours have been neglected for decades, with lack of funding, lack of research and lack of visibility. It is encouraging to see how this is changing and how research in rare tumours is not only taking place, but also being highlighted in Presidential Symposium 3 at this year’s ESMO Congress.

An exploratory analysis from the IMpower010 trial adds support to the use of post-chemotherapy adjuvant immunotherapy for selected early stage non-small-cell lung cancer

Data from SECOMBIT provide useful insights to the optimal sequence of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and targeted treatment combinations for patients with BRAF-mutated, advanced melanoma