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When I am writing this editorial, I am reminded that now we have completed 7 years of publication, nearly 30,000/00 pages in 7 years (Vol.7, Issue4). During this period we have seen a mixed bag of reactions. We have been praised as well as criticized in equal measure.

This issue has some very important presentation related to HPV in head and neck cancers in this country. Though HPV status in oro-pharyngeal cancer dictates the treatment and prognosis, the observation of HPV status in oral cancers in Indian subcontinent indicates that the incidence is very low in two studies by Arvind et al. and Sonkar et al. from different regions of the country. Therefore, HPV status is unlikely to have an impact in the management of oral cancer in India.

Thyroid nodules, though indolent nature, tend to be invasive. In the past, the dictum was all thyroid nodules require surgery. Today, after understanding the biology, every thyroid needs evaluation and individualization. Dr. Arvind Krishnamurthy in his guest editorial has highlighted the present status of the management of well-differentiated thyroid cancers.

Over the year, many authors, reviewers, and international faculty have contributed their articles to this journal. Every year, there is in increasing numbers of manuscripts submitted.

The satisfying part is that every major institution in the country and across the globe has submitted their manuscript to this journal of surgical oncology.

My special thanks to Dr. Sanjay Sharma (Mumbai), President of the IASO 2009, and Dr. Sanjiv Misra, Jodhpur, the secretary who initiated the move and their broad thinking to take forward this journal to recognize the work of the members of IASO. My Pranaams to Dr. Devendra Patel of Ahmedabad, who cautioned me in the initial stages and every January without fail I get a letter of appreciation from him.

I am penning down my feelings, as I am completing my tenure as Chairman/Editor. On the advice of members and friends of IASO, I am considering continuing for another term.

As one goes through the issues over the past few years and especially the recent volumes, one can sense a change in the thinking of the surgical oncologists, the transformation from a broad based specialty to a more organ based subspecialized approach.

My personal observation over the years has been that there is huge scope for improvement in publishing outcome-based research, particularly randomized studies from major institutes of this country with large volume of work. I hope that in the future we will see some change.

The journal has covered various aspects of surgical oncology and published articles on basic and translational research, personalized treatment, technology of minimal invasive surgery and robotics, and also the emerging trend of multidisciplinary treatment modalities.