Major gaps in online info for patients about AI and cancer
Major gaps in online info for patients about AI and cancer
https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/major-gaps-in-online-info-for-patients-about-ai-and-cancer
Publish Date: 2026-05-31 13:14:00
Source Domain: www.pennmedicine.org
Online information about artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on cancer research and treatment for both the patient and general-public audiences is limited, and the available webpages and videos are largely of low quality, difficult to read, and frequently omit risks of AI use, according to new research presented today at the at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 9000) and led by researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The research highlights an opportunity to create more accessible, high-quality resources, as AI is increasingly being incorporated into cancer research and patient care, and being used by patients to understand their diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis.
“In the clinic, we hear from patients all the time, asking us about something an AI tool told them, so we know patients are using this emerging technology,” said Hematology-Oncology Fellow Henry Litt, MD, senior author of the study. “Clinicians are used to educating patients about the risks of treatment, but not about the risks of misinformation that might come with using AI tools in the context of their cancer care. Our goal was to get a baseline understanding of what patients would find online if they sought out information about using AI to learn about their cancer care.”
Most online information on AI and cancer care is poor quality and hard to understand
The research team, led by Internal Medicine Resident Pearl Subramanian, MD, screened the first 320 webpages and videos identified through Google and YouTube searches using common cancer- and AI-related keywords. The web content included everything from news articles to stories published on hospital and healthcare organization websites, as well as educational resources published by government agencies and medical societies, influencer videos and more.
After removing content that was not…
