AI Empowers Cancer Patient in Health Battle

Russ Read-Barrow, a 43-year-old from the UK, has been living with incurable stage four colon cancer since his diagnosis in 2021. Despite undergoing chemotherapy and surgeries, the cancer has been kept under control since 2022, requiring ongoing treatment to manage its spread in his lungs and liver. Read-Barrow has actively integrated artificial intelligence into his treatment journey.

He developed a side project, FcancerwithAI, launched in 2025, to share his experiences. Read-Barrow uses AI to track his chemotherapy symptoms by analyzing daily voice notes and health tracker data. This helps him anticipate side effects like fatigue, providing a sense of control over his condition. He also uses AI to remember important medical advice and medication effectiveness from past treatments.

Furthermore, Read-Barrow employs AI as a medical history research assistant, uploading all his records to a platform to quickly access information. He also uses it to generate brief summaries of his health history, which he can easily share with new doctors or when signing up for services like a gym, simplifying the process of communicating his complex medical background.