Cancer is not a monolith.
TL;DR
- Cancer is a complex group of diseases, not a single entity, requiring personalized treatment approaches.
- Radical Health uses AI to analyze vast datasets for tailored cancer therapy recommendations.
- The platform democratizes cancer treatment information by scaling oncologist expertise.
- Radical Health provides patients with objective, data-driven insights for empowered decision-making.
“We speak about cancer like it’s one disease, but it’s more like thousands of different diseases,” said Simone Korsgaard Jensen, CEO and founder of Radical Health. “On top of that, every single individual is so different. But right now we still treat it with a one-size fits-all approach. And that’s where data and AI can especially step in to help.”
In 2024, Jensen launched Radical Health via the Entrepreneurs First accelerator initiative, driven by the concept that AI's exceptional capacity to process vast datasets and deliver probabilistic, tailored guidance could revolutionize patient engagement with cancer therapy.
“The only way we can [search all available research and data] is using AI,” Jensen told Coins2Day. “AI can make treatment recommendations from looking at ten million patients from the past, find the most similar patients, and reason through that.”
Radical has just emerged from stealth, having raised $5 million in pre-seed funding led by Khosla Ventures. Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures founder, said via email that he was drawn to the prospect that Radical could democratize information around cancer treatment by scaling “the expertise of the best oncologists.”
To achieve this, Radical's framework is constructed using a blend of publicly accessible information and patient details acquired through collaborations with UCSF and the Mayo Clinic. This dataset encompasses imaging, radiology, pathology, genetic information, and patient histories, representing over ten million instances. For individuals seeking its use, the application functions similarly to other platforms: users register, connect their health histories, and after approximately sixty minutes, the system generates a tailored summary. This summary suggests treatments and approaches that individuals frequently discuss with their cancer specialists. The application is presently offered at no cost and is accessible to everyone.
A patient, who communicated with Coins2Day under the stipulation of confidentiality as she is currently undergoing treatment, stated that Radical’s has equipped her with the resources to engage in more productive discussions with her physicians. Furthermore, it has contributed to her sense of empowerment.
“Trust was something that I’ve been battling with so much throughout this entire experience,” she said. “Any decision is obviously high-stakes, and no treatment is without risks: ‘This regimen that we’re putting you on has heart toxicity. This other one has an increased risk of leukemia.’ The really beautiful thing about Radical is that, unlike any one oncologist, it feels very objective.”
