AI is Shaping the Future of Blood Cancer Care: Here’s How Patients Can Harness It Safely

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping cancer care. More than 40 million people globally now turn to AI tools like ChatGPT for health information each day, often outside clinic hours, and before they talk with a clinician. AI use is also accelerating in clinical settings, with platforms like OpenEvidence now used by more than 40% of U.S. physicians.

In cancer care, where decisions are complex and stakes are high, this shift raises new questions about trust, safety, and accuracy. To address this reality, BeOne Medicines recently convened patients, advocacy leaders, clinicians, and AI experts from around the world for a first-of-its-kind Patient Advocacy AI Innovation Lab at the 2025 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The goal: understand how patients are using AI, what risks and opportunities it creates, and how the cancer community can make AI-enabled tools safer and more effective.

When participants were asked to describe their feelings about AI and cancer in one word, the screen filled: “optimistic,” “hopeful,” “scared,” “cautious,” “unsure,” “overwhelmed.” It captured how many blood cancer patients feel – excitement mixed with caution.

“At BeOne, we’re committed to developing innovative blood cancer medicines that help patients live longer and feel better,” said John V. Oyler, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of BeOne Medicines. “As AI becomes central to how patients navigate their care journey, we see a tremendous opportunity to harness it responsibly to strengthen research and ensure patients have access to clear, timely information about clinical trials and treatment options that may improve long-term outcomes. That’s why we’re bringing the cancer community together, to better understand what patients truly need and to co-develop AI tools and guidance that can best support them.”

Cancer does not adhere to office hours. Scan results arrive after dinner, lab updates ping at midnight, and fear often shows up before a doctor can. AI tools feel immediate, private, and available when navigating cancer care.

“Anxiety and the need for immediate information doesn’t wait for the doctor’s office to open,” said Michele Nadeem-Baker, CLL patient leader and Lab moderator. “Patients and caregivers are looking for answers in real time, even if those answers aren’t always reliable.”

Advocates noted AI can create connection, while sometimes deepening fear and isolation when emotional support is missing.

Meghan Gutierrez, CEO of Lymphoma Research Foundation, recalled a moment that captured AI’s promise and peril. A lymphoma patient who had relapsed called her office, terrified. He hadn’t discussed his PET scan results with his oncologist. Instead, he uploaded them into an AI chatbot, treating its response as fact.

“Some of the information he received was not just inaccurate, it was almost a decade old,” Gutierrez said. “He was basing his fear on outdated information.”

“That’s why we have an opportunity to help shape how AI tools are used, so they are accurate, current, and support conversations with clinicians rather than replacing them,” she said.

AI tools work best when they strengthen, not replace, the human connection at the center of cancer care.

AI can be a useful tool to:

• Understand what “watch and wait” – also referred to as “active surveillance” –may mean for your specific blood cancer, and how it is monitored in partnership with your healthcare provider
• Find out about the latest clinical trials and treatment options
• Translate your pathology report or flow cytometry results into plain language
• Draft messages to your care team about side effects or other concerns
• Get information about insurance terminology like step therapy or prior authorization
• Research blood cancer patient advocacy organizations
• Track patterns in your blood counts or symptoms over time

AI tools should not be used to:

• Decide whether to delay your treatment
• Determine if your blood counts are dangerous
• Interpret your biomarker testing, bone marrow biopsy or PET scan results
• Compare your lab values to “normal” without your doctor’s context
• Decide treatment plans without input from your care team
• Self-diagnose based on symptoms alone

Remember that AI has limitations. It can be wrong, outdated, or misleading. It cannot interpret your personal medical situation, and it may not reflect all communities’ experiences.

Privacy is also not guaranteed. Never share your full name, date of birth, medical record numbers, complete lab reports with identifiers, or insurance details. Most free AI tools store your inputs and may use them to train future models.

Before acting on any AI-generated health information, ask yourself:

• Does this answer tell me to do something medically different?
  • If yes, talk to your care team before making any decisions.
• Can I verify this information through a trusted source?
  • Your care team or advocacy organization can help, including trusted resources within the cancer support community.
• Does this make me feel more or less anxious?
  • If it’s increasing distress, step back and seek human support.

In blood cancer care, AI should help make the journey clearer, not heavier.

Patient advocates are often the first people patients turn to when overwhelmed. They understand the worries that keep patients up at night, the confusion from conflicting information, and the emotional nuances AI may overlook.

Shaping AI tools that improve the patient experience requires new partnerships: clinicians, advocates, technologists, industry leaders and patients all share responsibility for safer, more effective AI use.

Advocacy organizations have historically been early adopters of technology – building websites when reliable information was hard to find, creating online communities when patients felt isolated, and rapidly expanding virtual support during COVID-19. Now, they have an opportunity to help co-create the next generation of AI tools that serve patients.

“AI has been talked about in drug development for years,” Oyler said. “But what’s been missing is a conversation about how it directly helps patients. Our AI Innovation Lab was the start of that.”

The Lab was designed as a starting point. BeOne Medicines will continue partnering with advocacy groups and patients to translate these insights into guiding principles that can shape AI tools across cancer care. Those principles are already being applied to the development of new digital tools – within BeOne and beyond – to help patients navigate the complexity of blood cancer such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and overcome frictions in their treatment journeys while preserving the support and connection they rely on most.

No one should face cancer alone. BeOne is committed to ensuring AI strengthens human relationships at the center of blood cancer care and facilitates shared decision making with your care team.

BeOne Medicines is building the world’s leading oncology company — driven by scientific excellence and exceptional speed — to reach more patients than ever before. Together, we’re how the world stops cancer. To learn more about BeOne Medicines’ commitment to patient partnership and innovation in cancer care, visit www.beonemedicines.com.