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AI is helping Mayo Clinic support cancer patients by finding cancer earlier, explaining care clearly, guiding follow-up, and helping care teams personalize treatment.
Cancer care can feel scary, confusing, and hard to manage. You may have tests, scans, lab work, visits, and many new medical terms to learn. You may also have questions about your diagnosis, treatment, side effects, and what happens next.
At Mayo Clinic, artificial intelligence, or AI, helps care teams support patients in new ways. AI is a computer tool that can look for patterns in health information. It can help doctors, nurses, and other care team members find important details faster. It can also help explain information in clearer ways.
AI is one more tool that helps your care team make safe and informed choices with you. Human skills, care, and judgement still guide each decision.
How AI helps patients understand cancer care
Cancer information can be complex and hard to understand. Limited time with doctors can make it difficult for patients to get and understand the information they need. They also may not remember everything that was said or may have questions after they get home. Mayo Clinic researchers developed MedEduChat to help with this.
MedEduChat, an AI tool for prostate cancer education, uses a patient’s health record to give understandable patient specific cancer education. This tool was studied with patients who had prostate cancer and gave answers to questions based on each patient's own health history. MedEduChat may help patients better understand their diagnosis, treatment choices, side effects, and follow-up care.
How AI may help find cancer earlier
One of the most hopeful ways AI is being used is to help find cancer sooner.
Mayo Clinic researchers created an AI tool for pancreatic cancer detection called REDMOD. This tool looks at routine CT scans of the belly area. It can help specialists find small signs of pancreatic cancer before a tumor can be clearly seen. In one Mayo Clinic study, REDMOD helped find signs of pancreatic cancer up to three years before a patient was diagnosed.
This is important because pancreatic cancer can be hard to find early. Many people are diagnosed after the cancer has spread. Finding it sooner may give patients more treatment options.
Mayo Clinic is also using AI in research to learn how disease starts. Mayo Clinic’s Precure Research Initiative is looking at how disease starts before symptoms appear. It uses AI, genetic information, health records, wearable tools, and other data to look for early signs of disease.
This work may help find people who have higher risks for certain cancers. These include hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and Lynch syndrome, which is linked to colorectal cancer. Finding risk earlier may help patients and care teams plan better screening, prevention, or follow-up.
How AI may help personalize cancer treatment
Every person’s cancer is different. Mayo Clinic is studying how AI, imaging, lab results, and other health data may help make treatment more personal.
Mayo Clinic and GE HealthCare are working together on a study called MI-BET for people with advanced prostate cancer. The study is looking at radioligand therapy which uses special tools to find and treat cancer more directly.
Today, many patients get a set number of treatment cycles. MI-BET is studying whether imaging, blood test, tumor response, and health outcomes can help guide treatment over time. The goal is to learn if treatment can be changed, paused, or continued based on how each person’s cancer responds.
How AI can support prostate cancer follow-up
Mayo Clinic is also using AI to support patients after prostate cancer treatment.
Mayo Clinic’s Department of Radiation Oncology developed a tool called the PSA Control Tower which is used for prostate cancer follow-up. PSA is a blood test used to watch for signs that prostate cancer may be coming back. The PSA Control Tower looks at PSA results and other health information over time. It helps care teams see which patients may need attention and when.
This can help patients feel more supported after treatment. It may help the care team spot changes earlier. Doctors still use their training and judgement to decide the next steps.
How AI supports cancer care teams
AI can also help the people who care for patients.
Mayo Clinic nurses are using AI. The Nurse Virtual Assistant was created by Mayo Clinic nurses for Mayo Clinic nurses. It gives nurses a patient summary and links to trusted care resources in one place inside the patient's health record. This helps nurses spend less time searching and more time caring for patients.
Mayo Clinic and Techcyte are using a digital pathology platform called Fusion AP. Pathologists are doctors who study tissue and cells to help diagnose disease. This digital tool brings images, patient information, case details, and AI into one place. This can help pathologists find the information they need more quickly and efficiently.
AI is a tool, not a replacement for your care team
AI is helping cancer care move forward. But it does not replace doctors, nurses, or the care team. At Mayo Clinic, AI is being used to support people. For cancer patients and families, this brings hope. AI is one more tool helping Mayo Clinic provide care that is more connected, more informed, and centered on each patient.
Learn more
- Related topic: Technology’s Golden Age: Keeping Watch Over Your Heart
Find support and resources
- Join the conversation: Cancer Support Group | Mayo Clinic Connect
- Learn about us: Cancer Education: About Us | Mayo Clinic Connect
Is there a topic you would like to read about on the Cancer Center Blog? Let us know in the comments or email our team at canceredcenter@mayo.edu.
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