Cancer Patient Lab Meeting #82 - "Illuminating the Path of Cancer Care with a Chatbot" (Vanessa Liu)
Channel: Cancer Patient Lab
Date: 14/02/2024

January 17, 2024
Discussion forum: community.cancerpatient.org
Full transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6y1SMsZXbfNaW6peu7FCkXmNzI2WzXlJDOkxkjU1QI/edit?usp=sharing

00:00:03 Intro 
00:03:17 Developing an AI chatbot for cancer patients
00:10:00 Using an AI chatbot for cancer patient support
00:17:50 Developing a chatbot for cancer patients
00:26:39 Using AI chatbots in healthcare with experts
00:28:55 Dealing with misinformation and scams in cancer diagnosis
00:31:01 Filtering misinformation and customizing AI models for medical use cases
00:32:33 AI data sanitization and landing zone for a customer-facing company
00:36:30 Developing an AI-powered chatbot for cancer patients
00:43:34 Cancer treatment research and patient support
00:49:45 Personalized cancer treatment research
00:53:57 Cancer treatment options and resources
00:59:27 Cancer treatment options and resources
01:02:21 Cancer diagnosis and treatment options

“We knew there were a lot of information resources out there. But we were so tired. We got to a point where we had to really make the best use of our time. Were we willing to use the time to just chill, to enjoy a sip of coffee? Do we really want to do another round of research? Because the good time is so little. He was tired all the time. That experience became the origin of the startup.” – Vanessa Liu

“CareBud is an innovative, user-friendly AI-powered chatbot, designed to proactively navigate cancer patients and their caregivers through the intricacies of their treatment pathway, ensuring support at every step… This is our vision… we want to feature these four perspectives: comprehensive, personalized, proactive, and simple.” - Vanessa Liu

Meeting Summary
From their initial diagnosis, cancer patients and their caregivers are confronted with many challenges as they embark on their journey:

- Overwhelmed by healthcare navigation: Cancer patients and caregivers struggle with the overwhelming task of navigating complex healthcare systems and understanding diverse treatment options
- Lack of comprehensive AND ALSO tailored solutions: Absence of a unified platform that comprehensively caters to the specific needs of cancer patients, combining essential information and simplicity
- Fragmented collaboration in cancer care: Inadequate collaboration and information sharing among patients, healthcare professionals, and clinical trials result in delayed advancements in cancer care, inefficient use of resources, and potential missed opportunities for patient benefit.

There are many apps that have been developed to help cancer patients and their caregivers navigate and automate some of these tasks. With the arrival of generative AI and chatbots, like ChatGPT (from OpenAI and Microsoft) and Bard (from Google), navigation apps for cancer patients are on the cusp of providing a next generation of service.

Vanessa Liu is uniquely qualified to discuss the development of a chatbot-based app for cancer patients. She is passionately committed to supporting cancer patients and their loved ones. Drawing from her personal experience caring for her husband with leukemia, Vanessa emphasizes the need for improved communication and information resources for patients seeking advanced treatment after relapse. 

Her aim is to create an AI-powered chatbot that provides personalized and proactive support, CareBud. CareBud will guide cancer patients and their caregivers through the complexities of their treatment journey. It is at an early stage of design. They are working on a prototype. Vanessa plans to use GPT-4 as the base model for the minimum viable product (MVP) and use information from Cancer Patient Lab. The business model for the app includes multiple revenue streams through B2B and B2C subscriptions, partnerships, and education campaigns. CareBud will target advanced and newly diagnosed cancer patients with different needs and questions. The team is testing and evaluating the chatbot's accuracy and helpfulness, with a potential focus on lung cancer patients initially.


Meeting participants shared ideas about their unmet needs and design preferences, and how they currently get information to guide their decisions.

The information and opinions expressed on this website or platform, or during discussions and presentations (both verbal and written) are not intended as health care recommendations or medical advice by Cancer Patient Lab, 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.