Refinements in cancer surgery, including therapies that can travel through the body and treat cancer cells where they are, are the top advance in cancer care for 2020, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Every year, the society names an advance of the year, recognizing effective treatments that help reduce the amount of surgery needed and increase the number of patients who can undergo surgery when needed. It publishes a report, "Clinical Cancer Advances," that highlights the most important clinical research advances of the year.
For 2020, the society selected "refinement of surgical treatment of cancer" as the advance of the year. This includes a recognition of advances in systemic therapies for pancreatic and kidney cancers and melanoma. In particular, developments in neoadjuvant therapies, which are given before surgery, have helped make surgery for patients with advanced melanoma less invasive.