Playlists - Cancer Therapy Startups

Cancer therapy

The Patient Story

Cancer Patient Lab

“ChatGPT is very focused on standard practice. It doesn't give other alternatives unless you specifically ask for them. For example, I asked about functional testing, and it said, ‘Yes, that's exactly the best moment to do that. It's ideal when having surgery.’ But it didn't bring it up spontaneously. That's a little bit of a catch: if you want to understand how your current situation would normally be treated and why, this is ideal. It gives you all the answers, and you can question it back and forth to understand why it makes sense.” – Chris Apfel, MD

See the full session here: https://youtu.be/Z_saMpbjNo8

A meeting with your doctor is both a significant opportunity and a source of emotional concern for cancer patients and their caregivers. The visit with your doctor is a rare opportunity for you to actively engage in your cancer testing and treatment decisions. If you understand the options and their side effects, as well as your needs and preferences, you can advocate for an approach that is better aligned with them. At the same time, a doctor visit can be a time of concern. Many people feel overwhelmed, awash in a sea of several dozen concerns, without a clear focus on the key items amidst the noise in their heads. "What should I ask?" "What might they ask me?" Many patients and caregivers feel exposed, vulnerable, and at risk of being embarrassed.

To prepare for a doctor's appointment, you need to structure your conversation. You need a decision-making framework with information inputs (your needs and preferences, medical history, and ensuring you have the best, personalized testing information), clear decision options and criteria, and an overall long-term strategy for your care. AI can help. You can enter your needs, preferences, and medical history for personalization, then ask the AI questions.

To help with this process, we introduced a specific example of a patient preparing for a meeting with a medical team. The patient used instructions and prompts developed by a small Cancer Patient Lab working group to develop questions to bring to her next doctor’s appointment.

The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written), are solely for educational purposes and are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab (CPL), its principals, presenters, participants, or representatives for any medical treatment, product, or course of action. You should always consult a doctor about your specific situation before pursuing any health care program, treatment, product, or other course of action that might affect your health.

Using AI to Prepare for Your Next Doctors Appointment - Dr. Chris Apfel, MD

“You have to make AI stay on course. If AI is unconstrained, it's going to give you bogus answers. It's going to lose control. It's going to hallucinate. Tell it: ‘I want the standard of care. I want evidence. I want you to ask me questions. Don't paraphrase for me.’” – Russ Hollyer

See the full session here: https://youtu.be/Z_saMpbjNo8

A meeting with your doctor is both a significant opportunity and a source of emotional concern for cancer patients and their caregivers. The visit with your doctor is a rare opportunity for you to actively engage in your cancer testing and treatment decisions. If you understand the options and their side effects, as well as your needs and preferences, you can advocate for an approach that is better aligned with them. At the same time, a doctor visit can be a time of concern. Many people feel overwhelmed, awash in a sea of several dozen concerns, without a clear focus on the key items amidst the noise in their heads. "What should I ask?" "What might they ask me?" Many patients and caregivers feel exposed, vulnerable, and at risk of being embarrassed.

To prepare for a doctor's appointment, you need to structure your conversation. You need a decision-making framework with information inputs (your needs and preferences, medical history, and ensuring you have the best, personalized testing information), clear decision options and criteria, and an overall long-term strategy for your care. AI can help. You can enter your needs, preferences, and medical history for personalization, then ask the AI questions.

The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written), are solely for educational purposes and are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab (CPL), its principals, presenters, participants, or representatives for any medical treatment, product, or course of action. You should always consult a doctor about your specific situation before pursuing any health care program, treatment, product, or other course of action that might affect your health.

Using AI to Prepare for Your Next Doctor’s Appointment

“It's an emerging technology. Using it is great, but you have to be aware of the risks, which are hallucinations and lack of privacy.” – Dina Blikshteyn

See the full session: https://youtu.be/SEFg83UoM9M

As more cancer patients turn to AI tools to help them understand their disease, interpret test results, and navigate treatment options, risks that were less obvious when these tools first appeared are becoming increasingly clear as patients and caregivers lean on them more heavily. Using AI for healthcare guidance introduces significant privacy and security vulnerabilities—including large-scale data breaches, re-identification of “anonymized” data, cyberattack risks, and biased or inaccurate medical suggestions. Patients and caregivers also face challenges such as hallucinations, misinformation traps, and a lesser-known risk: AI’s tendency to be sycophantic, mirroring a patient’s fears or assumptions rather than staying objective. Deep-fake images and videos add another layer of risk, as AI can now generate highly convincing but false medical or personal content.

To use AI safely, patients need AI literacy: an understanding of both the benefits and limitations of these tools, and practical strategies to reduce risks. This includes learning how to guide AI systems to stay neutral, evidence-based, and not act as emotional validators. And while vigilance significantly reduces risk, complete privacy is increasingly difficult in a world where AI evolves rapidly and where most people’s personal or medical information has already been shared—knowingly or not—through email providers, search engines, and social media. Being aware of how and when you share information is essential if privacy matters to you. AI tools like ChatGPT are quickly becoming the new “Dr. Google”—helping patients interpret medical jargon, understand biology, explore treatment options, and prepare questions for their care teams. But few people have experience using these systems responsibly in a medical context. Knowing how to protect yourself while benefiting from AI is essential.

The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written), are solely for educational purposes and are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab (CPL), its principals, presenters, participants, or representatives for any medical treatment, product, or course of action. You should always consult a doctor about your specific situation before pursuing any health care program, treatment, product, or other course of action that might affect your health.

Manage Your Privacy When Using AI to Guide Your Cancer Care – Dina Blikshteyn

Roger Royse - FDA Advisory Committe