Key Takeaways
- The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has awarded Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center funding to build an AI‑driven platform, My Wellness Support, aimed at identifying unmet supportive‑care needs and delivering personalized guidance to breast‑cancer survivors between clinic visits.
- Up to 80 % of breast‑cancer survivors report at least one unmet need after treatment, highlighting a substantial gap in current survivorship services.
- The platform combines an oncology‑trained AI companion, patient‑reported outcomes, and clinical data to adaptively address symptoms, psychosocial well‑being, stress reduction, healthy lifestyle behaviors, and self‑management.
- Built on the existing My Wellness Check program—which has gathered data from >34,000 ambulatory oncology patients—the new tool will risk‑stratify survivors, flag emerging concerns, and connect them to appropriate resources or care‑team escalation pathways.
- Patient privacy and safety are central: the design includes secure data management, clinician oversight, and clear protocols for urgent interventions.
- Researchers envision My Wellness Support as a scalable model that can extend evidence‑based survivorship care beyond the cancer center, improving quality of life for breast‑cancer survivors and eventually for patients across the cancer continuum.
A New BCRF‑Funded Initiative Targets Survivorship Gaps
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has received a Breast Cancer Research Foundation award to develop an artificial intelligence‑powered platform designed to meet the supportive‑care needs of breast‑cancer survivors between clinic visits. The project, led by Frank J. Penedo, Ph.D., director of Sylvester’s Survivorship and Supportive Care Institute, aims to transform how survivorship support is delivered by leveraging advances in AI to provide personalized, evidence‑based guidance. As Dr. Penedo explained, “As the number of cancer survivors continues to grow, many patients struggle with unmet supportive care needs after treatment, yet available support services remain limited in reach due to access and capacity of programs available. Our vision is to leverage advances in artificial intelligence to enhance and expand the delivery of evidence‑based, personalized support that helps survivors manage symptoms, improve quality of life and stay connected to their care team.”
The Pressing Need for Personalized Supportive Care
Although survival rates for breast cancer have risen dramatically, many survivors continue to face physical, emotional, and practical challenges long after treatment ends. Studies cited in the announcement indicate that up to 80 % of breast‑cancer survivors report at least one unmet supportive‑care need post‑treatment, underscoring a growing demand for services tailored to each patient’s unique situation. These needs often include fatigue, anxiety, stress, treatment‑related symptoms, and difficulties navigating lifestyle changes or healthcare logistics. The gap between need and available support is exacerbated by limited resources, workforce shortages, and fragmented care pathways, leaving many survivors without timely help when issues arise.
My Wellness Support: An AI Companion for Survivors
At the heart of the initiative is My Wellness Support, a digital platform that integrates an oncology‑trained AI companion with patient‑reported outcomes and clinical data. The AI is designed to engage survivors in conversations about symptom management, psychosocial well‑being, stress reduction, healthy lifestyle behaviors, and survivorship self‑management. By continuously learning from each individual’s interactions, the system can adapt its guidance to match evolving needs. Dr. Sara Fleszar‑Pavlović, Ph.D., project co‑lead and director of research operations for Sylvester’s Survivorship and Supportive Care Institute, emphasized the platform’s complementary role: “What excites us most is the potential to make supportive cancer care more accessible, personalized and responsive. My Wellness Support is designed to complement clinicians by extending evidence‑based survivorship support beyond the clinic and adapting to patients’ changing needs over time.”
Meeting Survivors Where They Are – Bridging Care Gaps
The announcement notes that while advances in screening, treatment, and supportive care have expanded the survivor population, many patients still experience challenges that affect quality of life long after therapy concludes. Supportive‑care services exist, but limited resources, workforce shortages, and fragmented delivery often prevent patients from accessing help when they need it most. My Wellness Support aims to bridge those gaps by delivering evidence‑based guidance that adapts to each survivor’s evolving situation, regardless of location or time of day. The platform’s design includes safeguards and escalation pathways that keep care teams informed, allowing clinicians to intervene when the AI flags urgent concerns. This approach seeks to ensure that technology enhances, rather than replaces, the human element of survivorship care.
Building on a Strong Data Foundation
The project builds on years of survivorship research conducted through Sylvester’s My Wellness Check program, which has collected patient‑reported outcomes, supportive‑care‑needs assessments, and nutrition data from more than 34,000 ambulatory oncology patients. Those data have clarified how symptoms and unmet needs correlate with health outcomes such as hospitalizations and emergency‑room visits, providing a robust foundation for personalized interventions. The new platform will leverage patient questionnaires, clinical records, and ongoing interactions to risk‑stratify survivors based on their clinical profiles, identify emerging concerns early, and connect them with appropriate resources—ranging from self‑directed, evidence‑based tools to direct engagement with their care teams. Dr. Akina Natori, M.D., MSPH, a Sylvester oncologist and assistant professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, highlighted the preventive potential: “Our research has shown that patient‑reported symptoms and supportive‑care needs can help identify individuals who may be at risk for poorer outcomes. By combining those insights with adaptive technology, we have an opportunity to intervene earlier and connect patients with the resources they need when they need them most.”
Advancing the Future – Phases, Safety, and Scalability
Development will proceed in phases: first refining the platform’s adaptive AI and personalization features; then testing feasibility and usability among breast‑cancer survivors; finally launching a larger study to evaluate patient outcomes and implementation strategies. Throughout, patient privacy and safety remain paramount, with safeguards such as secure data management, clinician oversight, and clear pathways for responding to urgent concerns. As South Florida’s only National Cancer Institute‑designated cancer center, Sylvester intends for the lessons learned from My Wellness Support to inform scalable models of supportive care that can improve quality of life not only for breast‑cancer survivors but eventually for patients across the broader cancer continuum. The BCRF‑supported initiative reflects a broader commitment to patient‑centered research and the development of tools that meaningfully impact the lives of people living with and beyond cancer.
BCRF Award Supports AI Platform to Improve Breast Cancer Survivorship Care