Des Winter

As with airplane concepts, clinical trials fly or crash based on design engineering. Executing a well-designed trial that asks a clinically important question of a common problem is harder than it sounds. Vertiginous uplift requires gravity-defying kinetics by a dedicated and coordinated team, akin to climbing mountains. The final yards (writing and publishing) are, like the summit, the hardest, requiring commitment, focus, and an eye on the end game.

Abstract Colorectal cancer represents the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The therapeutic field of immuno-oncology has rapidly gained momentum, with strikingly promising results observed in clinical practice. Increasing emphasis has been placed on the role of the immune response in tumorigenesis, therapy and predicting prognosis.