Lynda Wyld, Bert Bonsing & Pierre Mordant speak to ecancer.tv about the highlights from the ESSO 2010 meeting. These include talks addressing over-treatment in breast cancer, the importance of good management of the operating theatre, lung cancer in elderly patients, new surgical imaging technologies and the need for more specialised multi-discipline approach to cancer treatment. There has been an emphasis at this meeting on eliminating the current geographical heterogeneity in cancer treatment. This can be achieved by standardising treatment protocols across Europe, through the sharing of more accurate records to allow surgeons to compare their performances and through education programmes where doctors travel across Europe learn from colleagues. In addition to this a number of presentations have stressed the importance of a multidiscipline approach. Whereas in the past patients would only see one doctor, it is now accepted that patients should be treated by a team, each of whom specialise in one aspect of care.The discussion addresses the issue of publishing hospital performance statistics.  Whilst this publication may reveal underperforming hospitals and offer incentives to improve services, it is important to find a way of doing this without risking hospitals refusing to treat patients with a bad prognosis.