Meet the Outliers in Cancer
Nature Biotechnology’s Senior News Editor, Lisa Melton, moderated this panel conversation on cancer and its formidable challenge in modern medicine, with certain types proving almost insurmountable. But one company is about to change that, and they’re flipping the script for cancer research.
In the world of cancer research and treatment, the focus often lies on the tragic realities faced by patients — aggressive diseases, unfortunate deaths, and poor prognoses. However, a groundbreaking biotech company, Cure 51, is taking a different approach. Rather than solely studying treatment failures, they dedicate their efforts to understanding the remarkable stories of cancer survivors who have defied all odds.
Cure 51 CEO Nicolas Wolikow explains, “We decided with the team to switch the rules and change the rules of the game, and we are focusing on patients who are surviving.” By concentrating on those who have overcome aggressive cancers like pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, and small-cell lung cancer, Cure 51 aims to uncover the biological mechanisms behind these miraculous survivals.
To achieve this goal, the company has established an impressive network of over 55 hospitals worldwide, spanning Europe, the US, Canada, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Through this network, they have identified more than 1,300 survivors. “Once they are identified, we are collecting all their data,” says Wolikow. We’re going to try to understand, by sequencing and molecular profiling this data, why these patients survive. What are the biological features that can explain their survival?”
One such survivor is Jean-Luc Gonford, a 62-year-old French outlier who was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer 12 years ago. Despite being told he had only six months to live, Gonford refused to accept this prognosis. “The good voice in your brain says it’s not cancer,” he shares. “It’s only a question of what you put in your brain; you need to be convinced that you can move forward.”
Gonford connected with Cure 51 after seeing a television report about their unique approach. “I felt that what they presented about Cure 51 was exactly corresponding to my own story, and I decided to contact them and contribute to the project,” he explains.
Dr. Thankamma Ajithkumar, Clinical Director of Laboratories at Cambridge University Hospitals, emphasises the significance of Cure 51’s work. “If you look at how long they live, it’s only 1–3% of people who live beyond five years,” she notes. “This is the first time anybody globally is trying to learn from the successes of our treatment.”
The key to unlocking these secrets lies in the advanced technologies now available for analysing clinical samples. Dr. Paloma Cejas, a scientist at Cure 51, explains, “We are living with a technological revolution in the methodologies that we have available for interrogating clinical samples, and I’m talking about clinical samples, FFPE blocks, that is the standard way that the tissues are available in the hospital.”
By employing multi-omics approaches, combining genomics with transcriptomics at a high resolution, Cure 51 aims to understand the crosstalk between the tumour and the microenvironment. “Why do these patients live longer? What is special about their biology?” asks Dr. Cejas. “It may be that crosstalk between the immune system that is controlling the tumour better. We need to understand that, and now we can do it.”
Artificial intelligence also plays a crucial role in accelerating the process of identifying potential therapeutic targets. “AI will never be a substitute for the science team, never,” emphasises Wolikow. “It’s a tool to accelerate the speed, the velocity, and the productivity of the team.” By training AI models on oncology literature and public databases, Cure 51 can more rapidly identify signals, clusters, and signatures that may hold the key to understanding cancer survival.
Dr. Ajithkumar highlights the potential impact of this research, even if it starts with just a few patients. “If you can identify that one patient with a clear signature, that will be a brilliant starting point, and that will completely change the way we look at cancer management,” he states.
As Cure 51 continues to expand its network and collect more data from survivors worldwide, the potential for groundbreaking discoveries grows. The company’s mission is to create a library of robust, validated therapeutic targets that can be developed into new drugs through partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
In a field where progress can often feel slow and incremental, Cure 51’s unique approach offers a glimmer of hope. By focusing on the remarkable stories of cancer survivors and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to unravel the mysteries behind their success, the company is paving the way for a new era in cancer treatment — one that learns from the triumphs rather than solely the defeats.
As Dr. Ajithkumar eloquently puts it, “Cancer is full of serendipity. Everything started with one patient.” Through the tireless efforts of Cure 51 and the brave survivors who share their stories, we may be one step closer to turning serendipity into a reality for countless cancer patients worldwide.
