When localised cancer is resected surgically, some patients will have recurrence of their disease, and the likelihood of dying from the cancer is then high. Adjuvant therapies are offered before or after surgery in the hope of reducing the probability of recurrence, thereby improving survival. The scientific and clinical community is continuously searching for new adjuvant therapies that can increase survival and cure rates, but when potential advances are proposed, the data must be carefully analysed to establish if the new therapy performs as we hope.