ATYPICAL RESPONDERS LANDSCAPE REVIEW ∙ OCTOBER, 2017 30 SUMMARY Although some investigations have been launched in the US and Europe to study treatment-related responses in cancer patients, they have significant limitations. This paper provides a blueprint to increase researchers’ knowledge regarding why some patients experience an atypical response. Due to a dearth of robust studies, we cannot currently predict which factors will be more important and which will be less so. The studies cited in this paper provide information about specific indicators that may prove to be important and warrant further examination (e.g., aspirin [53], Vitamin D [54]), although future research into atypical responses should not be limited solely to the factors described herein. Questionnaires designed to capture and store a wide variety of information such as diet, exercise, psychosocial factors, supplements, CIM, chemosensitivity testing, co-morbidities, etc. may also provide important evidence. We propose that clinical trials be carefully re-designed to collect and centrally store de-identified data in a standardized manner, conduct a more thorough, multifaceted study of the whole patient, and consider ethnic, racial, lifestyle, and social differences [84, 85]. Similarly, physicians in clinical practice are encouraged to capture and store on a common platform de-identified multidimensional patient data, treatments, and outcomes irrespective of whether the patient exhibits an atypical response. Through obtaining, storing, and studying the patient information thus provided, researchers could readily scrutinize a wealth of information regarding exceptional responders, rapid progressors, exceptional survivors, as well as typically responding patients for comparative purposes. From there, hypotheses would be formulated based upon the results of prior studies as well as upon newly emerging observations. These ideas would then lead to rigorous testing, with patterns and trends materializing over time. The outcomes of these studies could ultimately prove practice-changing by transforming a formerly terminal disease into a chronic condition.