Cancer specialists in the United Arab Emirates are using artificial intelligence to examine why patients with the same diagnosis can respond very differently to identical treatment. Two people may have the same type and stage of cancer and receive the same medicine, yet one may remain well for years while the other becomes seriously ill within months. Dubai-based biotechnology company Nexomic is studying the biological reasons behind these contrasting outcomes.

The company was established with the involvement of Professor Humaid Al Shamsi, who leads cancer care at Burjeel Medical City and serves as chief executive of the Burjeel Cancer Institute. Nexomic's DeepOmic platform examines several forms of molecular information at the same time, including gene activity and changes in DNA. Instead of looking only at familiar markers such as HER2, KRAS or BRCA, the system searches for wider patterns linked to treatment response, resistance and disease progression.

Dr Ghadeer Ghosheh, Nexomic's chief AI officer, said cancer cannot be understood through a single data point because each layer of biological information reveals something different. AI can already assist doctors by examining medical images, digital tissue slides and patient records for small signs that may otherwise be missed. Nexomic has also reached a formal data-access agreement with Genomics England and Cancer Research Horizons in the United Kingdom to test and improve its tools using carefully controlled genomic and clinical information.

The research could help doctors make treatment choices based more closely on the biology of each patient's tumour. It may also help pharmaceutical companies understand why some therapies succeed while others fail or lose effectiveness over time. The technology is still being developed, but the team hopes it can bring more personalised cancer care closer to everyday medical practice.