Cure for certain cancers is ‘realistic’ goal in next decade, pharma lead says

A cure for cancer could be on the horizon in the next decade, according to experts.

During the WSJ Leadership Institute CEO Summit in London last week, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato reflected on the pharmaceutical company’s projections on the future of cancer treatment.

In the next 10 years, the goal is to "try to eliminate cancer," Duato shared.

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"That’s a high goal, and we are already making significant progress in certain cancers," he said.

Duato used multiple myeloma as an example, noting that the life expectancy is currently 10 years, when it was previously "only single years."

Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson, speaks at the Punchbowl News Conference at Union Station on March 10, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

"We have treatments now that utilize your own immune system to attack the cancer," he said at the summit. "For patients who were already going into hospice, so they didn’t have any other alternative, they are [at] more than five years, with a single administration, in remission. That [is] spectacular."

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"When patients see that, they cannot believe that because they have been coming to the hospital every week [for] a decade, having multiple therapies."

The goal is to "try to eliminate cancer" in the next 10 years, the pharmaceutical executive said. (iStock)

According to Duato, Johnson & Johnson is working to understand the biology of cancer growth and to formulate new technologies to address it.

"It’s realistic to believe that we are going to cure certain cancers, and some others we’re going to turn into chronic diseases," he predicted.

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"Cancer is an important thing – I cannot think about anybody who has not been touched by cancer," he went on. "But there are many other opportunities for us to actually advance science, to address very important social problems."

Duato called out dementia as another "important problem" in need of a solution.

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He predicted that life expectancy, which has risen steadily over the past century, will continue to increase as longevity technologies and solutions advance, improving quality of life along the way.

Duato commented that J&J has been optimistic about the role artificial intelligence will play in the future of healthcare, calling it a "force multiplier."

Biomarkers and AI can help with the earlier diagnosis of cancer, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery, a doctor noted. (iStock)

Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel agreed with Duato's outlook on the future of cancer care, noting that certain cancers will turn into chronic diseases while others will find outright cures.

"Advances [will be] based on the use of AI to help guide targeted treatments with expanding knowledge of cancer mutations and how to target them," he predicted, speaking to Fox News Digital.

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Siegel added that biomarkers and AI can help with earlier diagnoses, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery.

J&J recently acquired Firefly Bio, a biotech firm that produces drugs that enter cancer cells to "target certain proteins that contain difficult to treat gene mutations," the doctor added.