Opinions

Despite age-specific difficulties, increased understanding of sarcoma biology is leading the way to the development of new treatment strategies 

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is on course to become standard treatment for selected high-risk soft tissue sarcomas but effects in low-risk disease are unclear

The future is in the hands of tools built on combinations of biomarkers as no single biomarker is likely to reflect the complexity of the tumour microenvironment or account for tumour evolution

The complexity of identifying and clinically validating immunotherapy biomarkers can be addressed by broadening tumour sampling and expanding the characterisation methodologies used 

In-depth understanding of immunological cellular mechanisms provides the basis to explore new ways to modulate the immune system for more effective treatment of cancer

Biosimilars make certain medicines more affordable, but cost and availability drive the need to find ways to improve access

National cancer control programmes, pharmaceutical company interest and facilitation of clinical trial participation may be stimulated by epidemiological data

Findings call for a change in tumour categorisation, from a cell-of-origin to a tumour microenvironment-associated holistic approach 

Ongoing research will help to clarify how CHIP clones may be used to guide therapy for patients with solid tumours 

Research is getting closer to the development of patient-specific tailored treatment approaches for brain tumours, thanks to increased understanding of the tumour microenvironment, including the critical importance of the immune system