The central question in clinical oncology research is undergoing a profound transformation. Today, the focus is no longer simply on whether a drug is effective, but increasingly on how, when and in which patients it should be used. The goal is to identify who is most likely to benefit from a treatment, when it is most appropriate to administer it and, conversely, when it can safely be avoided, reducing toxicity and unwanted side effects.
Through the European SAGITTARIUS study, which is evaluating a precision medicine strategy to personalize treatment after surgery for colon cancer, we will take a journey “behind the scenes” of clinical research to understand how new therapeutic strategies are developed to transform medical practice: from the scientific hypothesis to trial design, from the selection of biomarkers to regulatory and organizational aspects, and ultimately to the involvement of patients and clinical centres.