Every year, the oncology world gathers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to share the latest breakthroughs in cancer research, treatment, and patient care.
This year, more than 45,000 clinicians, researchers, advocates, and industry leaders gathered in Chicago for ASCO 2026: the largest attendance in the conference's history.
In this special episode of Patient From Hell, Manta Cares Founder and CEO Samira Daswani and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Doug Blayney sit down live from ASCO to discuss one of the biggest themes emerging from this year's meeting: the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
They also preview several groundbreaking studies that could reshape the future of cancer treatment, including advances in pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and hormone-positive breast cancer.
While AI dominated conversations across the conference floor, one question remained largely unanswered:
How are patients actually using AI today?
As Samira shares, that's the gap Manta Cares is working to fill.
Episode Highlights
- Why AI was one of the biggest topics at ASCO 2026
- How patients and caregivers are already using AI for real-world cancer support
- The opportunities and risks of AI adoption in healthcare
- Concerns about AI misinformation and "deskilling" among clinicians
- A promising new KRAS-targeted therapy that doubled survival in second-line pancreatic cancer
- New long-term survival data in ALK-positive lung cancer
- Important updates on immunotherapy and biomarkers in lung cancer
- How oral SERDs could improve treatment experiences for patients with hormone-positive breast cancer
- Why patient perspectives must be included in conversations about healthcare innovation
Pull Quote
"Healthcare may be behind the AI adoption curve, but patients aren't waiting. They're already using AI to navigate treatment, find support, and make sense of their cancer journey."
Resources Mentioned
- Manta Cares
- Hope AI
- American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
- KRAS-targeted therapies for pancreatic cancer
- CAR-T Cell Therapy
- ALK-positive lung cancer research
- PD-L1 immunotherapy research
- Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders (SERDs)
- ESR1 biomarker testing
