How I treat cancer special issue

Within the 3 years of its existence, ESMO Open – Cancer Horizons has so far published a total of 330 articles dealing with all possible aspects of cancer and cancer care. These have included papers in the following areas: epidemiological studies1 2; access to cancer care3–7; the advent of biologicals and their broad use in the clinic8 9; various aspects of magnitude of clinical benefit achieved by the use of certain drugs10 11; biological considerations on the regulation of tumour growth12 13 and propagation14–16; clinical cutting-edge papers on the treatment of cancer in selected unfamiliar situations1 17–21; new treatment options either registered by the European Medicines Agency (which ESMO Open regularly publishes in its ‘EMA Corner’22) or a broader understanding of existing compounds23–28 in an abundance of various cancers29–35 and quality of life issues of cancer patients.3 36–42 These patient-oriented publications were complemented by aspects concerning the oncological profession.4 43 Further, a more profound understanding of challenging side effects was addressed in several articles.44–50 Thus, ESMO Open – Cancer Horizons has established itself as a reliable source of information on the very many aspects of cancer and cancer care published within it. This is corroborated by the high levels of engagement with the journal’s content. Since launch there have been 581 000 page views from 325 000 users around the world. In 2018, usage from the Americas exceeded that from Europe for the first time (125 000 views vs 108 000 views).

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) importantly and regularly publishes and updates guidelines on the treatment of cancers.51–54 This series of guidelines has become very much rightly truly iconic in the oncological community. The current special issue of ESMO Open – Cancer Horizons is the result of a request we have sent out to key opinion leaders in various fields of cancer in which we have asked them to give a very succinct opinion on how they would treat cancer in a very special and circumscript situation related to predefined diagnosis. Thus, we have intended to present the oncological community with an endeavour which would encompass a series of ESMO’s attempts including the generation of guidelines,51 the results of the Magnitude of Clinical Benefit10 11 36 and personal considerations of key opinion leaders.55–58 We hope that these very short and succinct summaries will help you in your everyday care of patients with cancer who give the true meaning to all of our endeavours.