The FDA approves the groundbreaking drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) after research shows that adding the monoclonal antibody to chemotherapy dramatically increases survival for women with advanced breast cancer that over-produces a protein called HER2. In 2006, the drug is also approved as part of adjuvant therapy (after surgery) for women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, after two major trials show that it reduces the risk of recurrence by more than 50 percent, an unprecedented result.

About 25 percent of breast cancer patients have HER2-positive disease, and prior to the introduction of trastuzumab, there were no effective treatments for these cancers, which were considered some of the most aggressive, deadly forms of the disease. Recently, trastuzumab was also FDA-approved to treat patients with stomach cancers that have a similar over-production of the HER2 protein.

A surgical technique called sentinel lymph node biopsy becomes a less invasive way to assess whether cancer has spread in patients with early-stage melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. The procedure involves surgically removing the lymph node closest to the primary tumor – the "sentinel" node – and examining it under a microscope for evidence of cancer. If the sentinel node is cancer-free, no further lymph nodes are removed and the patient is spared the previous practice of removing a large number of nodes. This allows for easier recovery and reduces the risk of postoperative side effects such as lymphedema, a painful swelling of the extremities.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is later found to be effective for women with breast cancer.

A new procedure called total mesorectal excision emerges as a new standard surgical treatment for many patients with rectal cancer. The procedure involves removing only the cancerous region of the rectum, allowing patients to maintain normal bowel function. Previously, nearly all patients with rectal cancer had to undergo permanent colostomies (elimination of waste through an opening in the abdomen connected to a colostomy bag).

Researchers led by Vincent DeVita discover that a new chemotherapy regimen called MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone) cures up to 50 percent of patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. This regimen quickly becomes the standard treatment. In the 1970s, a different chemotherapy combination (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine – known as ABVD) proves even more effective, curing about 70 percent of patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. The ABVD combination remains a mainstay of treatment today.

In the 1950s, studies begin to show that smoking is a major cause of cancer, particularly lung cancer. In the early 1960s, both the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.K. Royal College of Physicians issue reports linking smoking to cancer and other serious health problems. In later years, smoking is also established as a major cause of pancreatic cancer, and second-hand smoke is declared a threat to the health of non-smokers. Tobacco control and smoking cessation soon become the most important strategies for reducing the worldwide toll of lung cancer.

The Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program is established by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Over time, this nationwide cancer research network proves the safety and efficacy of many of the most important advances in cancer treatment, screening and prevention. Cooperative Group trials have brought breakthroughs in adjuvant chemotherapy for breast and colon cancers; breast-conserving lumpectomy to avoid mastectomy; and new standards of care for blood cancers, brain tumors, and many others. Perhaps most striking is the impact of these trials on pediatric cancer survival rates. Fifty to 60 percent of children with cancer are enrolled in clinical trials, and childhood cancer survival rates have increased from less than 10 percent in the 1950s to nearly 80 percent today as a result.