As is usual during the first week of June, the clinical oncology community gathered together for the ASCO Annual Meeting. The overarching theme of this year’s meeting was ‘driving knowledge to action: building a better future’. In the Opening Session, the CEO of ASCO, Clifford Hudis, elaborated on this motto, bringing attention to the unprecedented challenges that researchers in the USA are facing owing to budget uncertainty. This message was subsequently echoed by other presenters in several sessions.

The Plenary Session featured phase III trials across several cancer types, including polycythaemia vera. Patients with this haematological condition have a high risk of thrombosis and leukaemias. Their management typically involves frequent phlebotomy, which greatly compromises quality of life. In VERIFY, 293 patients with polycythaemia vera requiring frequent phlebotomy with or without stable cytoreductive therapy were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive the hepcidin mimetic peptide rusfertide versus placebo. Clinical response, a composite end point reflecting a decreased need for phlebotomy, was more common in patients receiving rusfertide (76.9% versus 32.9%; P < 0.0001). In ATOMIC, 712 patients with resected stage III mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) colon adenocarcinomas were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive adjuvant mFOLFOX6 either alone or in combination with atezolizumab. The addition of atezolizumab improved disease-free survival (DFS; 86.4% versus 76.6 %; HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.35–0.72; P < 0.0001). Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 71.7% versus 62.1% of patients. In NIVOSTOP, 680 patients with high-risk resected locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive standard-of-care (SOC) chemoradiotherapy either alone or in combination with nivolumab. The addition of nivolumab improved DFS (63.1% versus 52.5% without nivolumab; HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.60–0.98; P = 0.034). Grade ≥4 AEs occurred in 13.7% versus 6.3% of patients. The programme chairs are to be applauded for inviting the cancer survivor and physician Mark Lewis to discuss the studies presented in the Plenary Session from his perspective. Without dismissing the importance of numeric end points, Lewis highlighted the importance of qualitative assessments of trial outcomes to many patients and their families.