Today, February 4, is World Cancer Day. Cancer kills around 10 million people each year — more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Fortunately, European startups are accelerating innovation across the cancer care pipeline, from early detection to post-treatment recovery.

Early Detection

Aerion Bioscience (Luxembourg) is developing a blood test for early lung cancer detection based on a specific pattern of proteins circulating in the bloodstream. This test could represent a less invasive and cheaper alternative to CT scans and biopsies.

The Blue Box is developing an AI-powered, non-invasive screening solution for breast cancer that uses a simple urine sample. Their device combines an electronic nose to detect cancer-related volatile biomarkers in urine, and a machine-learning algorithm recognises subtle patterns linked to early-stage disease.

Innovative Therapies

Captain T Cell (Germany) is developing next-generation T cell therapies to treat solid tumours. The company engineers tumour-specific T cells that express optimised T-cell receptors (TCRs) with enhanced persistence and the ability to survive and attack cancer cells even within the hostile tumour microenvironment.

Concr (UK) applies astrophysics-derived technology to predict which treatments will work for individual patients. Its FarrSight platform creates digital twins, simulations of a patient’s molecular biology, to predict the most effective therapies and to help drug developers design better clinical trials.

Reducing Side Effects

Luminate Medical (Ireland) develops wearable medical devices designed to reduce some of the most distressing side effects of chemotherapy, including hair loss and nerve damage. Its products use targeted compression technology to limit how much chemotherapy reaches certain parts of the body.

Research in Microgravity

SPARK Microgravity (Germany) is developing what it describes as Europe’s first dedicated commercial orbital cancer lab. They aim to enable life scientists and pharmaceutical researchers to perform experiments in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit, in order to study cancer biology, 3D tumour growth models, drug screening and personalised oncology studies in an environment different from Earth.