Unfortunately, and this must be clearly stated from the outset, cancer is not a single disease, but a collection of hundreds of different pathologies. However, AI is becoming the most powerful tool ever created to help doctors treat it. By 2026, it will act as a super-assistant, transforming oncology on four major fronts:
Ultra-early detection (Eagle Eye)
This is where AI excels today.
It analyzes thousands of mammograms, CT scans, or photos of moles with greater precision than the human eye.
It detects tumors the size of a grain of sand, undetectable by a tired radiologist.
Yet, cancer detected very early is cured in more than 90% of cases.
Precision Medicine (Personalized Treatment)
Each tumor has a unique genetic signature. AI can process billions of genomic data points to tell the doctor: « For this specific patient, with this specific mutation, conventional chemotherapy will not work, but this immunotherapy will be effective. »
We are stopping the practice of treating patients « blindly » with harsh and ineffective treatments.
Discovering New Drugs
Normally, creating a new drug takes 10 years and costs billions. Tools like AlphaFold (from Google DeepMind) allow us to model protein structures in minutes.
We are designing « turnkey » molecules to specifically block the growth of cancer cells, radically accelerating research.
Personalized mRNA Vaccines
AI helps design vaccines (like those being tested by Moderna or BioNTech) that teach the patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy their own cancer cells.
AI calculates which part of the tumor is most « visible » to the body’s defenses.