An era of therapeutic translation

Diagnostic advances currently have exceeded therapeutic gain. The present, however, is a transition phase. Chemotherapy, for example, has become curative for some tumors in recent years, rather than merely palliative, due to the precision permitted by advances in molecular biology. At this time, acceleration in the basic oncologic sciences has surpassed therapeutic advance, but therapeutic translation has begun and we will require clinical scientists to increase the bridge from laboratory to bedside if we are to speed the contribution of the so-called biologic revolution to cancer control.