Volume 18 Issue 9, September 2021

Whole-genome sequencing of samples from patients with myeloid malignancies can enable more accurate risk stratification than is possible with conventional cytogenetics. Research by Duncavage

et al. demonstrates that such an approach can now be delivered within several days using a highly streamlined and automated workflow.

Advances in cancer immunotherapy have led to clinical trials of immunotherapy-based neoadjuvant treatments for early stage non-small-cell lung cancer. Evidence for priming of the immune

system using both preoperative short-course radiotherapy and immunotherapy in this setting has now emerged from a randomized phase II study incorporating pathological and immunological end

points.

The authors of this Review present the current considerations in the treatment of patients with early-stage lung cancer, discussing the critical determination of resectability by thoracic

surgical oncologists and the management of both resectable and unresectable disease with a focus on systemic therapy selection. They also address innovations in drug development, trial

design and efforts to identify early-stage cancers.

Limited penetration into tumour tissue can restrict the activity of systemically delivered cancer immunotherapies, whereas exposure of various non-malignant tissues to high levels of such

agents can lead to problematic toxicities. Intratumoural administration and/or biotechnology strategies for selective targeting of tumour tissues have the potential to circumvent these

issues and thereby increase the therapeutic index. Herein, the authors review the historical origins and current landscape of intratumoural and tumour tissue-targeted immunotherapies.

Advances in sequencing technology have rapidly improved our understanding of the biology of acute myeloid leukaemia and led to the development of several novel targeted therapies. In this

Review, the authors summarize the landscape of novel targeted therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and provide guidance on future research directions.

Immune responses against tumour antigens that do not arise from cancer cell-specific mutations can result in autoimmune reactions against the tissue of origin of the tumour. Despite their

undesirable effects, these symptoms can have prognostic value and correlate with favourable disease outcomes. The authors of this Perspective discuss the importance of such beneficial

autoimmunity in patients with advanced-stage disease and in cancer immunosurveillance.