A cancer-support app developed by the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine helps people with advanced cancer and their caregivers monitor health at home and get guidance between clinic visits. Its weekly monitoring includes changes in physical and psychological wellbeing.
Research participants can record symptoms and their severity in a weekly diary, then contact nurses online. For more serious symptoms, the app sends relevant articles. Nurses proactively follow up by phone with guidance within one to two working days of receiving a weekly diary.
The study recruited 1,214 patients with advanced cancer who had stopped anticancer drug treatment at six Hong Kong hospitals providing palliative care, between January 2023 and February 2025. Participants were followed for 18 weeks. The research team had complete reports for 633; some patients received usual care alone and others used the app alongside usual care.
The team reported unexpected hospital admissions for 17.2% of app users, compared with 28.5% of the usual-care group. Average hospital stays were 3.4 days among app users and 7.3 days in the usual-care group.
It also reported that quality-of-life and overall health-satisfaction scores declined more slowly and steadily among app users. Daily-living ability improved for 19.3% of app users and 7.7% of the usual-care group; it worsened for 37.9% and 53% respectively.
A clinical-practice associate professor said the team had three nurses because of limited resources and followed patients for only 18 weeks. Most of the work was online.
The team said participation was free and it was recruiting patients at Queen Mary Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Tuen Mun Hospital and Haven of Hope Hospital.