Five ways AI is transforming the patient blood cancer journey
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how people seek health information, interpret health data, and participate in decisions about their health care. For individuals impacted by blood cancers like chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and more, the growing use of AI presents both powerful opportunities and meaningful risks. Patient advocacy organizations — often on the front lines of patient blood cancer journeys — now find themselves navigating a world where patients turn to AI tools before speaking with clinicians or support organizations, and where technology is accelerating shifts in expectations and the experience of care.
Understanding these shifts is critical. Patients and families need guidance they can trust; clinicians need support as roles evolve; and advocacy groups must determine how to serve as both educators and interpreters where information is abundant but not always reliable.
These questions were front-and-center at the first-of-its-kind Patient Advocacy AI Innovation Lab convened by global oncology leader BeOne Medicines during the 2025 American Society of Hematology meeting. The session brought patients, advocacy leaders, clinicians, researchers, and AI experts together to explore how AI is influencing patient behavior and how best the community might prepare for what’s ahead. Five key themes emerged:
1. Patients are turning to AI before they turn to anyone else
AI in health care is already shaping the earliest moments of the cancer journey. Meghan Gutierrez, CEO of Lymphoma Research Foundation, described a recent call from a lymphoma patient who relapsed and was terrified about what a recent PET scan and bloodwork might mean. Before discussing the results with a health care provider, the patient downloaded them from MyChart and uploaded them into an AI tool, treating its interpretation as definitive.
Unfortunately, the interpretation relied on information that was nearly a decade out of date.
“Patients are already turning to AI before they speak to their clinicians. That means we cannot wait. Advocacy organizations need to be involved in ensuring that these tools are accurate, safe, and grounded in the realities of cancer.”
Meghan Gutierrez, CEO of Lymphoma Research Foundation
Survey findings reinforced the urgency. Many advocates shared concerns about inaccurate or unreliable information, which underscores the opportunity to engage now to help shape AI into a tool patients can depend on.
2. The rise of the patient-as-CEO model is reshaping the patient-clinician relationship
Patients are turning to tools like ChatGPT to interpret symptoms, scans, and treatment options, relying less on traditional web searches and showing up to clinical conversations with AI-shaped expectations.
Neal Batra, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, described this as part of a larger shift emerging across health care: patients increasingly see themselves as active decision-makers, not passive recipients of information.
“Consumers are increasingly going to be the CEO of their own health, and the clinician moves into a support role as opposed to the lead role,” said Batra. “Patients are showing up informed, and that changes everything about how care is delivered.”
Patients now arrive with data from wearables, online tools, and AI-generated insights. Clinicians remain essential, but their role is evolving into that of an expert partner and coach.
This shift will require new forms of collaboration, with patient advocacy organizations and the broader blood cancer community playing an important role in helping patients and clinicians navigate these AI-informed discussions.
Traditional patient advocacy has long focused on producing trusted educational resources. With AI, that mandate expands. Blood cancer advocacy organizations will increasingly be called on to help patients interpret AI outputs, understand limitations, and distinguish reliable insights from problematic ones.
Advocates underscored that while AI may provide information, it cannot replace the reassurance, context, and human judgment that patients rely on.
Participants also emphasized that when used responsibly, AI has the potential to accelerate education, broaden access to timely information, and support more confident decision-making. This will require advocacy organizations to build new capabilities so they can harness the technology and guide patients in using these tools effectively.
4. Patients expect the same seamless digital experience they already have in other parts of life
The workshop explored case studies from outside health care that demonstrated how other industries like insurance and entertainment use technology to simplify complex journeys. Lemonade offered one of the clearest parallels to oncology. Its AI-driven approach to obtaining insurance eliminates paperwork, compresses long processes into minutes, and provides transparency. And Disney’s MagicBand illustrated how technology can fade into the background to create an effortless experience shaped by real-time data.
Participants noted that similar capabilities could help patients navigate their cancer journeys with intuitive tools that reduce friction, remove administrative obstacles, and create a sense of being supported.
Advocates raised concerns that AI could add new challenges for patients if trust, data integrity or usability are not prioritized. Several noted that AI tools may surface outdated or incomplete information, such as treatment approaches that no longer reflect current standards of care, which can confuse patients or undermine confidence in their HCP’s decisions.
Others warned that the growing use of AI in insurance must not restrict access or push patients toward outdated blood cancer treatments, including cost-driven practices like step therapy that force patients to try inferior options before receiving the treatment their doctor recommended.
Advocacy organizations are uniquely positioned to identify blind spots, bring forward broad patient perspectives, and work with clinicians, industry partners, and others to ensure AI tools harness the most accurate information and build trust with patients.
What will patient advocacy look like in 2035 with AI?
The Lab concluded with an exercise to imagine what effective patient advocacy might look like in 2035 with AI. Many envisioned AI-enabled systems that match patients to clinical trials, treatments, financial resources, and personalized education. Others described more connected ecosystems where data flows more easily across care settings. All agreed that human connection must remain central.
AI will not replace advocacy. It will expand it. Organizations that embrace this shift today will help shape how patients experience blood cancer care in the decade ahead. Realizing this future will require cross-sector collaboration across the cancer community to develop clear guidance that helps patients and caregivers engage with AI safely and confidently. John V. Oyler, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of BeOne, emphasized that progress will depend on strong partnerships.
“At BeOne, we believe that cancer has no borders, and neither should the information and care that support patients. Harnessing AI requires partnership, creativity, and a willingness to rethink how cancer care is delivered.”
John V. Oyler, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of BeOne
BeOne Medicines is building the world’s leading oncology company — driven by scientific excellence and exceptional speed — to reach more patients than ever before. If you are a patient, caregiver, patient advocacy group leader, or health care provider interested in collaborating on AI solutions, technology pilots, or opportunities to improve cancer care, contact us at [email protected].
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