Teenage kicks
2004; Elsevier BV; Volume: 16; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/annonc/mdi102
ISSN1569-8041
Autores Tópico(s)Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
ResumoCan you recollect your teenage years? Disraeli said that “The blunders of youth are preferable to the triumphs of manhood or the success of old age”, and perhaps he was right; that unconquerable sense of optimism, that seeming immortality, that sometime faltering sense of self. Annals of Oncology is 15 years old this year. This may seem a minor achievement when compared with the 340 years of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, but I know it is a cause of some satisfaction, if not some surprise, to those present at its birth. We need not speak overmuch of the conception, which legend has it occurred in a bar; I wasn't there. Credit is due to Franco Cavalli and those who worked with him to make that barroom banter into a reality and in the space of 10 years made Annals what it is—one of the world's leading clinical oncology journals. It may be worthwhile to remind ourselves how recent 1990 is and how far Annals has come in those 15 years. 1990 began with George Bush Sr in the White House, Margaret Thatcher in 10 Downing Street and Nelson Mandela in prison. In Berlin, the Wall began to be taken down and thousands stormed the Stasi's HQ. In Britain, thousands rioted against the poll tax, and a government minister fed his daughter a beefburger on television to counter rumours of mad cow disease. In August Iraq invaded Kuwait, precipitating the Gulf War. In November a computer scientist working at the CERN laboratory in Geneva published a paper describing something he called the World Wide Web. The contribution of Annals of Oncology to these world events was exactly nil. To suggest otherwise would be hubristic nonsense. But within clinical oncology Annals has made, and is making, a difference. Let me give you some numbers: in 1990 Annals of Oncology received 252 manuscripts; last year that figure was nearly 1000. In 1990 Annals published barely 450 pages; last year that figure was over 1800. In the last 5 years alone the impact factor of the journal has gone up some 26%, with last year's increase, to 3.605, the biggest single-year increase on record. Subscriptions to the journal have grown dramatically, paralleling the growth of ESMO, and with the advent of the online journal (http://annonc.oupjournals.org) institutional access to the journal has increased from a few hundred paper subscribers to several thousand online. Last year the Annals web site served over 700 000 full text articles to readers all over the world, including those in not-for-profit institutions in over 120 developing or middle-income countries, who are now able to apply for free or receive greatly discounted online access to the journal through initiatives operated by Oxford University Press (OUP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications. This year Annals, with the full support of both ESMO and OUP, will move to a copyright licence system that will allow authors to retain copyright of their published articles. All concerned agree that this is fair and right, and it will, I believe make a further contribution to expanding access to Annals. In parallel with this development we will be making changes to the journal's website. Operation of the website will remain in the inestimable hands of Stanford University's HighWire Press, but we again hope to tweak things to improve the experience and expand access. Significant among these tweaks will be the move to advance access publication, or publication ahead of print (charmingly shorthanded to PAP by the cognoscenti). This will involve an accepted article being published on the journal's website as soon as a finalised, corrected proof becomes available, irrespective of the paper issue to which it has been assigned. In this way we hope to be able to bring important articles to Annals readers some 4–8 weeks ahead of print publication (see http://annonc.oupjournals.org/papbyrecent.dtl). I hope it is clear from all this that I place the support of authors, editors and referees at the heart of the Journal. Last year we again awarded the Annals of Oncology prizes [1.Kerr D.J. A word in your ear: the Annals of Oncology prizes.Ann Oncol. 2004; : 1303-1304Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (3) Google Scholar] and, as predicted [2.Kerr D. A little citadel of light in a malignant sea of darkness.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1-2Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar], it proved to be a worthwhile experience, thanks to the support of authors who chose Annals as the place they wanted to publish their research. The breadth and diversity of the science submitted to Annals never ceases to astonish me, from significant phase III randomised trials [3.Fleming G.F. Filiaci V.L. Bentley R.C. et al.Phase III randomized trial of doxorubicin cisplatin versus doxorubicin +24-h paclitaxel + filgrastim in endometrial carcinoma: a Gynecologic Oncology Group study.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1173-1178Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (170) Google Scholar, 4.Abratt R.P. Brune D. Dimopoulos M.-A. et al.Randomised phase III study of intravenous vinorelbine plus hormone therapy versus hormone therapy alone in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1613-1621Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (79) Google Scholar] to early clinical [5.Marshall J. Chen H. Yang D. et al.A phase I trial of a Bcl-2 antisense (G3139) and weekly docetaxel in patients with advanced breast cancer and other solid tumors.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1274-1283Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (72) Google Scholar] and preclinical [6.Rozados V.R. Sánchez AM, Gervasoni SI et al. Metronomic therapy with cyclophosphamide induces rat lymphoma and sarcoma regression, and is devoid of toxicity.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1543-1550Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar] studies, from analyses of websites for complementary medicine [7.Schmidt K. Ernst E. Assessing websites on complementary and alternative medicine for cancer.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 733-742Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (143) Google Scholar] to important epidemiologic analyses [8.Levi F. Lucchini F. Negri E. et al.Trends in cancer mortality in the European Union and accession countries, 1980–2000.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1425-1431Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (65) Google Scholar]. Similarly, I am able to look at the many invited editorials (e.g. [9.Andre F. le Chevalier T. Soria J.C. Her2-neu: a target in lung cancer?.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 3-4Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar, 10.Dignam J.J. Mamounas E.P. Obesity and breast cancer prognosis: an expanding body of evidence.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 850-851Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar]) and reviews (e.g. [11.Vardy J. Tannock I.F. Quality of cancer care.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1001-1006Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar, 12.Mano M.S. Awada A. Primary chemotherapy for breast cancer: the evidence and the future.Ann Oncol. 2004; 15: 1161-1171Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar]) that have recently been published in Annals with considerable satisfaction. So there you have it: Annals of Oncology—big hearted, clever and still trying hard to fulfill its potential at 15 years old. And hopefully, still with enough honesty and humility to recognize it is in no small part the work of others that has made it what it is. E Tenebris Lux
Referência(s)