Despite major efforts to tackle cancer, it is still a leading cause of death worldwide that places tremendous health and economic burden on societies. Given this, developing new approaches to attack tumours continues to be a key area of research for both academia and industry. The recent emergence of rationally designed targeted drugs and effective immunotherapies, based on a deeper understanding of cancer genomics and the host/tumour interaction, has allowed significant progress to be made even in those indications that have historically been hard to treat. This SMR symposium, in collaboration with Cancer Research UK, brings together a panel of international speakers to highlight exciting new advances in cancer therapy, and to discuss key challenges and opportunities from early research through to clinical development