Cancer Super-Avoiders: A New Frontier in Prevention Science
The Foundation has committed $2.69 million to Team ATLAS, a Cancer Grand Challenges team studying why some people at high risk never develop cancer and what that could mean for the rest of us.
July 27, 2026
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Cancer research has long focused on understanding what causes cancer to develop. Team ATLAS is asking a different question: Why do some people never develop cancer, despite being at high risk?
We’re paying close attention to research that might help us better understand what drives lung cancer risk. Our goal is to support bold research that has the potential to change the trajectory of lung cancer by transforming how we understand risk, prevention and early detection. That’s why last week, we announced a commitment of $2.69 million over 5 years to Team ATLAS, one of five pioneering teams selected by Cancer Grand Challenges, a global initiative co-founded by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK to take on the most ambitious, unanswered questions in cancer science. Each team receives up to $25 million over approximately five years.
Studying the People Who Beat the Odds
One reason this project stood out to us is the highly collaborative approach and the fresh perspective on understanding risk. ATLAS is led by Dr. Paul Bastard at Institut Imagine (INSERM & University of Paris), with researchers from the University of Oxford and institutions around the world.
As recently published in Cell, the team is investigating a fascinating mystery: Smoking is the most common risk factor for lung cancer, but it does not explain the whole story. The proportion of people diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked is growing. And not everyone who has smoked develops it. Understanding what factors might prevent a person at high risk of developing lung cancer from getting it could lead to new breakthroughs in how we extend that benefit to others.
ATLAS believes the answer may lie in autoantibodies. Autoantibodies are proteins that are part of the body's immune system and could impact whether and how someone's immune system recognizes and responds to a developing cancer. In order to understand the role of autoantibodies in cancer, the team will study groups of people including centenarians who never developed cancer despite their advanced age, cancer-free individuals at high-risk of cancer due to specific risks like genetics or exposures, and pairs of twins where one developed cancer and the other did not.
By mapping autoantibody patterns across these groups, ATLAS aims to uncover new tools for cancer prevention, earlier detection, and treatment. These are goals that closely reflect the Susan Wojcicki Foundation’s commitment to transforming how we understand, detect, and prevent lung cancer.
Learn more about Team ATLAS at Cancer Grand Challenges.
Nadia Litterman, PhD, serves as Executive Director of the Susan Wojcicki Foundation. She is thrilled to be partnering with Cancer Grand Challenges and Team Atlas on this cross-sector collaboration and the opportunity to accelerate innovation in lung cancer early detection and prevention. Team ATLAS is funded by Cancer Research UK, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Susan Wojcicki Foundation and the Torrey Coast Foundation through Cancer Grand Challenges.
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