Sadly, 1 out of 3 will hear those words said to them in their lifetime.
With your financial support, we envision a future where patients can access a constellation of non-toxic cancer therapies, transforming their treatment journey into a beacon of hope and resilience, and making a cancer diagnosis far less daunting.
We will thoughtfully allocate donations with the singular goal of one day contributing to the cure for cancer. The unique feature of metabolic therapies is their broad efficacy. In contrast, a drug targeting a specific tumor mutation has the potential to work on only a fraction of people with that specific mutation in their cancer. Drugs that target metabolism work on everyone with cancer, regardless of the tumor type or its origin and distribution.
Even though metabolic therapeutic approaches have shown incredible preclinical and early clinical promise, procuring funding for definitive clinical studies is very challenging. The vast majority of funding continues to be allocated to research focusing on single mutations or specific cellular pathways that have proven repeatedly to be largely inadequate in cancer treatment.
From a capitalistic perspective, this makes perfect sense. Biotech companies pursuing these treatments are looking for the next blockbuster drug that can be patented, marketed, and sold with a large profit margin. Accordingly, there’s little interest in pursuing clinical trials for repurposed medications and associated lifestyle changes (e.g., Keto diet).
Our focused metabolic approach to cancer is unique among foundations, allowing for collaborative synergy. We not only provide direct funding for metabolic cancer research but also organize symposiums, recognizing that innovation flourishes through collaborative efforts.
Chairman & Founder
Travis is the Founder of the Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Therapies, a groundbreaking author, and an advocate known for his work on cancer research and health care reform. He holds a master’s degree in material engineering and science from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, as well as an undergraduate degree in molecular biology from the Honors College at Montana State University.
Mr. Christofferson is the author of two significant books: “Tripping Over the Truth: How the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Is Overturning One of Medicine’s Most Entrenched Paradigms” and “Curable: Overcoming the Incurable.” In “Tripping Over the Truth,” Travis explores, in detail, the metabolic theory of cancer, suggesting that cancer can be understood and treated as a metabolic disease rather than a purely genetic one. This perspective challenges conventional cancer treatments and proposes alternative, potentially more effective approaches to managing and curing cancer.
His book “Curable” delves into the systemic and psychological roots of the current U.S. health care crisis. Travis argues that the problems in health care are not just the result of corporate influence but are also perpetuated by societal and individual behaviors. He advocates for innovative solutions, including the repurposing of drugs, to revolutionize a profit-driven and often inefficient health care system.
Travis’s work has been praised for its ability to synthesize complex scientific information into accessible and engaging narratives. His books are designed to inform both the general public and medical professionals, encouraging a reexamination of current medical paradigms and practices.
Travis lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with his wife, Cabot-Ann, and has two children.
Board Member
J.T. is a serial entrepreneur who has founded over ten companies across high-growth sectors in the past two decades. Driven by personal experiences with cancer in his family and inspired by Travis Christofferson’s book “Tripping Over the Truth,” J.T. joined The Foundation For Metabolic Cancer Therapies. His involvement focuses on raising awareness and funding research into metabolic interventions for cancer treatment, leveraging his entrepreneurial network to support groundbreaking work in this field.
J.T. lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Jennifer. When not working, which is not often, J.T. enjoys outdoor activities with his family.
Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883–1970), German physiologist and Nobel laureate, revolutionized cellular metabolism research. After earning dual doctorates in chemistry (1906) and medicine (1911), he discovered the iron-containing respiratory enzyme (cytochrome c oxidase) critical for oxygen-based energy production—work earning him the 1931 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
His seminal insight: Cancer cells fundamentally differ from healthy cells by generating energy primarily through glucose fermentation instead of oxygen respiration, even in oxygen-rich environments. He declared this metabolic shift “the prime cause of cancer” in a 1966 academic lecture. Further, he elucidated the following: “Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar.”
Though his metabolic cancer theory was largely discarded after James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of the Double Helix in 1953 (which later coalesced into the Somatic Mutation Theory of Cancer), it established the groundwork for modern cancer metabolism research, some of which this Foundation currently funds. Warburg directed Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm/Max Planck Institute until his death. His groundbreaking revelation—that cancer’s energy mechanism mirrors that of primitive anaerobic life—continues to be a scientifically profound insight. 1
Otto Heinrich Warburg, PhD, MD. Archive: Der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin-Dahlem.
In a twist of fate that is not unusual in the annals of science, Dr. James Watson, who led the Human Genome Project in the 1990s, effectively reversed his stance on the genetic approach to cancer treatment in a 2009 Op-ed for The New York Times, he stated:
“We may need to shift our primary research focus from deciphering the genetic blueprints of cancer to comprehending the chemical processes within cancer cells.” – Dr. James Watson, Nobel laureate, Co-Discoverer of the Double Helix, referred to as the “Father of DNA” (2009).
The goal of our foundation is to fund research with the potential to cure cancer.
Other foundations typically focus on one single cancer type; we focus on the one feature of cancer inherent to all cancer types – defective metabolism.
Sadly, because current safe and effective metabolic therapies are unpatentable, there is no commercial interest in funding their development.
Our goal is to fund the research that can demonstrate the efficacy of select repurposed drugs and interventions in cancer treatment, with the hope for their widespread utilization in conventional oncology.
