Eras

For each cancer, the first major practice-changing milestone of each treatment type, placed in the era it arrived. Eras are a storytelling frame, not a historical claim; where each begins differs by cancer.

Cancers by era: the treatment types that first changed practice in each era, with the year
Cancer	Anatomists & surgeons1701–1894	The age of rays1895–1945	Chemotherapy1946–1975	Molecular origins1976–1997	Targeted therapy1998–2010	Immunotherapy2011–2019	Precision & engineered2020–
Acute myeloid leukaemia (including APL)				Cell therapy & transplant 1979 Chemotherapy 1981 Targeted 1988
Bladder cancer			Surgery 1962	Immunotherapy 1976 Chemotherapy 1985		Radiation 2012 Antibody–drug conjugate 2019 Targeted 2019
Breast cancer	Surgery 1894	Endocrine 1896		Chemotherapy 1976 Radiation 1981	Targeted 1998	Antibody–drug conjugate 2012	Immunotherapy 2020
Cervical cancer		Surgery 1911			Chemotherapy 1999 Radiation 1999	Targeted 2014 Immunotherapy 2018	Antibody–drug conjugate 2021
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)			Chemotherapy 1948 Radiation 1971		Cell therapy & transplant 2007 Targeted 2009	Immunotherapy 2016	Antibody–drug conjugate 2020
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia			Chemotherapy 1955		Immunotherapy 2001	Cell therapy & transplant 2011 Targeted 2013
Chronic myeloid leukemia			Chemotherapy 1953	Cell therapy & transplant 1979 Immunotherapy 1983	Targeted 2001
Colorectal cancer		Surgery 1908		Chemotherapy 1990 Radiation 1997	Targeted 2004	Immunotherapy 2015 Antibody–drug conjugate 2016
Endometrial cancer				Radiation 1980	Chemotherapy 2004 Surgery 2009	Targeted 2018 Immunotherapy 2019
Gastric and oesophageal cancer				Chemotherapy 1992 Radiation 1992	Surgery 2000 Targeted 2010		Antibody–drug conjugate 2020 Immunotherapy 2021
Glioblastoma				Radiation 1978 Chemotherapy 1978	Surgery 2006 Targeted 2009
Head and neck cancer				Chemotherapy 1991 Radiation 1991 Surgery 1991	Targeted 2006	Immunotherapy 2016
Hepatocellular carcinoma				Cell therapy & transplant 1996 Surgery 1996	Chemotherapy 2002 Targeted 2007	Immunotherapy 2017
Hodgkin lymphoma			Radiation 1950 Chemotherapy 1970	Cell therapy & transplant 1993		Antibody–drug conjugate 2011 Immunotherapy 2014
Kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma)			Surgery 1963	Immunotherapy 1992	Targeted 2005
Lung cancer		Surgery 1933			Radiation 1999 Chemotherapy 1999 Targeted 2009	Immunotherapy 2015	Antibody–drug conjugate 2021
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (DLBCL and follicular)				Chemotherapy 1976 Cell therapy & transplant 1995 Immunotherapy 1997		Antibody–drug conjugate 2019
Melanoma			Chemotherapy 1975	Cell therapy & transplant 1988 Immunotherapy 1988 Surgery 1988		Targeted 2011
Multiple myeloma			Chemotherapy 1962	Cell therapy & transplant 1996	Targeted 1999 Immunotherapy 1999
Neuroblastoma and Wilms tumour			Chemotherapy 1966	Radiation 1976 Surgery 1976	Cell therapy & transplant 1999 Targeted 1999 Immunotherapy 2010
Ovarian cancer				Chemotherapy 1996	Surgery 2010	Targeted 2011	Antibody–drug conjugate 2022 Immunotherapy 2026
Pancreatic cancer		Surgery 1935		Chemotherapy 1996	Radiation 2001	Immunotherapy 2017 Targeted 2019
Prostate cancer		Surgery 1905 Endocrine 1941		Radiation 1997	Chemotherapy 2004 Immunotherapy 2010 Cell therapy & transplant 2010		Targeted 2020
Sarcoma and GIST				Chemotherapy 1981 Radiation 1981 Surgery 1981	Targeted 2001 Immunotherapy 2005
Testicular germ cell tumors				Chemotherapy 1977 Surgery 1988	Radiation 1999 Cell therapy & transplant 2007
Thyroid cancer			Radiation 1946		Surgery 2003	Targeted 2011 Endocrine 2012

Counted here: treatment and de-escalation milestones rated landmark or major. Understanding, detection and supportive-care milestones are on each cancer's timeline.