You are quite right to be cynical about academics talking their own book and institutional press releases. There have definitely been breakthroughs that cure p

You are quite right to be cynical about academics talking their own book and institutional press releases. There have definitely been breakthroughs that cure people with advanced disease who would be dead otherwise. Anti-PD1 therapy in melanoma is the best example. One step down from there the median survival of seveal advanced cancers has improved dramatically (eg HER2+ breast cancer and prostate cancer). Still a long way to go, but within the field the progress is considered quite remarkable. And the pipeline has by no means dried up, in the last few years there have still been big advances with radioligands and antibody drug conjugates.