Oncologists Say Cancer Care Starts Too Late - PreOncology™ Launches New Medical Specialty Focused on Finding Cancer Before Stage I

New prevention-focused model combines genomics, AI-powered risk assessment, personalized surveillance, and oncologist-led clinical review to identify cancer at its earliest actionable point.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PreOncology today announced the launch of the nation's first medical-grade, oncologist-led cancer prevention and early detection program, introducing an emerging subspecialty of medical oncology designed to move cancer care upstream, before cancer becomes advanced disease.

Rather than waiting until cancer is diagnosed, the PreOncology Program™ applies oncology expertise to risk assessment, surveillance planning, and evaluation of early biological signals, helping primary care physicians personalize cancer prevention based on each patient's individual biology.

"Most cancer deaths occur after cancer has already spread," said Jose Barreau, MD, Co-Founder of PreOncology and host of The Chase: Inside the Race to Cure Cancer. "The greatest opportunity in oncology is not developing better treatments for metastatic disease. It is finding cancer before metastasis ever develops."

"If a cardiologist waited until a patient suffered a massive heart attack before becoming involved, we would consider that a failure of the healthcare system. Yet in oncology, we typically don't meet patients until after cancer has already formed."

Despite extraordinary advances in cancer therapy, today's screening system remains largely based on population averages—primarily age and broad risk categories. Many cancers still have no routine screening pathway, and for many patients the first indication of disease is a symptom that appears after the cancer has already progressed.

PreOncology was created to address that gap by replacing one-size-fits-all screening with continuous, individualized cancer prevention and early detection.

At the center of the program is the Stage Alpha Operating System™ (patent pending), a clinical intelligence platform designed to monitor Oncologic Biological Drift—the way an individual's cancer risk, biology, and clinical signals evolve over time—and identify the earliest point at which meaningful intervention becomes possible.

The platform combines three core capabilities:

• Dynamic Risk Engine — Individualized cancer risk assessment powered by whole genome sequencing, clinical history, family history, lifestyle factors, biomarkers, and machine learning.
• Protocol Optimization — Personalized surveillance strategies using detection mathematics to determine which screening technologies should be used, when they should be performed, and how often they should be repeated.
• Signal Review — Oncologist-led review of abnormal findings and emerging biological signals through a dedicated Signal Board that helps physicians determine appropriate next steps.

"Cancer risk is dynamic, not static," said Russell Rockne, PhD, Director of Mathematical Oncology at City of Hope and Scientific Advisor to PreOncology. "As we better understand tumor biology, individual risk, and the performance of detection technologies, there is an opportunity to move beyond one-size-fits-all screening toward surveillance strategies that are mathematically tailored for each person."

"Cancer prevention is not about ordering more tests," said Amit Gupta, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PreOncology. "It is about knowing which tests make sense, for which patients, when to use them, and what to do with the information. A blood test, scan, or genetic result is a tool—not an answer. The value comes from the clinical program built around it."

The PreOncology Dynamic Risk Engine is built using approximately 3.1 million de-identified patient records derived from many of the same large prospective research studies that underpin national cancer screening guidelines. For lung cancer alone, the model incorporates data from more than 611,000 individuals, substantially expanding the evidence base available for individualized risk assessment.

Unlike direct-to-consumer screening products or single-technology approaches, the PreOncology Program is technology agnostic. Screening technologies are evaluated continuously using a structured clinical framework that considers sensitivity, specificity, evidence quality, patient burden, and overall clinical utility before being incorporated into a personalized surveillance strategy.

The program is delivered through concierge and direct primary care physicians, allowing patients to remain under the care of their trusted physician while adding the expertise of board-certified medical oncologists focused on prevention and ultra-early detection.

The PreOncology Program is available through participating concierge and direct primary care practices in Florida, with national expansion planned.

Looking ahead, PreOncology plans to continue advancing the Stage Alpha Operating System, expand its AI-driven clinical intelligence platform, pursue regulatory pathways for software-based clinical decision support, and partner with health systems, employers, and payers to make personalized cancer prevention more broadly available.

About PreOncology

PreOncology™ is an emerging subspecialty of medical oncology focused on preventing cancer and finding it earlier—before it becomes advanced disease. Founded by board-certified medical oncologists Jose Barreau, MD, and Amit Gupta, MD, the PreOncology Program™ integrates whole genome sequencing, clinical data, biomarkers, imaging, artificial intelligence, and longitudinal risk modeling to generate individualized cancer risk assessments, personalized surveillance strategies, and expert review of early biological signals.

Through its Stage Alpha Operating System™ (patent pending), PreOncology brings oncology expertise upstream, working alongside primary care physicians with the goal of detecting cancer at the earliest actionable point, when cure is most achievable.

For more information, visit www.preoncology.com.

Media Contact
Jenny Greenland-Zee
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SOURCE PreOncology