About 20 years ago, investigators working in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) cooperative group system sought to prove that a novel adjuvant therapy regimen would extend the overall survival of patients with stage III colorectal cancer. The CALGB 89803 study compared weekly administration of irinotecan plus fluorouracil and leucovorin vs the standard care at the time, fluorouracil plus leucovorin. Unfortunately, this trial had negative results, and the investigational arm was far more toxic than the standard care.1 The report by Van Blarigan et al2 represents a cancer control gem that came out of the ashes of this trial.