Cure51 – A Radical New Approach to Beating Cancer: Why It’s Necessary

Nicolas Wolikow and Simon Istolainen share their thought about cancer treatment.

Nicolas Wolikow and Simon Istolainen are the co-founders of Cure51 and repeat entrepreneurs with experience in health tech. Nicolas founded and sold Qare, and Simon was a shareholder and advisor to Owkin.

Cancer remains one of the most formidable challenges in modern medicine. Despite significant advances in treatment and early detection, cancer continues to claim millions of lives each year. For as long as cancer research has existed, it’s been focused on studying the disease and affected patients. We believe that a radically new approach is necessary to make cancer a disease of the past truly. 

By shifting the focus to long-term survivors, harnessing the power of data and AI, and fostering international collaboration, we believe the global community of medical researchers can unlock new pathways to treatment and ultimately cure cancer, or at least make in a manageable chronic disease.. The journey is challenging, but the potential rewards are immense.

The Limitations of Traditional Approaches

Traditional cancer treatments—surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy—have saved countless lives, but they often come with severe side effects and varying degrees of efficacy. These treatments target cancer cells but also harm healthy cells, leading to significant physical and emotional tolls on patients. Moreover, these methods do not address the underlying biological mechanisms that allow some individuals to beat cancer while others do not.

In recent years, the focus has shifted toward precision medicine, which tailors treatments to individual genetic profiles. While this represents a significant step forward, it still operates within the framework of targeting the disease rather than understanding the conditions that enable long-term survival and remission.

Learning from Outliers

We think a shift in focus is necessary: learning from those who have defied the odds and achieved long-term survival. Studying long-term cancer survivors will, we believe, help uncover the biological, genetic, and environmental factors that contribute to their success. Ultimately, this wealth of information will help the industry develop new, more effective treatments.

This approach is predicated on the idea that the answers to beating cancer lie within the outliers—those rare cases where patients experience miraculous recoveries or prolonged remission. With the data, intelligence and research available today, we believe that by systematically analyzing survivors, it’s possible to identify patterns and insights often overlooked in traditional research focused on average outcomes.

International Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

Cancer is a global issue, and solving it requires a global effort. The next big breakthrough relies on thorough, real time international collaboration among oncology centers, researchers, and data scientists, allowing the global community of researchers to pool our collective knowledge and resources to drive innovation and improve patient outcomes.

A Vision for the Future

The future of cancer treatment lies in a deeper understanding of the disease and the factors that influence survival. We envision a world where cancer is no longer a death sentence but a manageable condition with a high likelihood of remission and cure. A single, unwavering mission drives our work: to improve the prognosis for all patients facing aggressive cancer types.

In conclusion, a radically new approach to beating cancer is not just necessary—it is imperative. The traditional methods have brought us far, but to truly conquer this disease, we must think differently, act boldly, and embrace innovation at every turn.