Key takeaways:

- New survey results from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center find public openness to AI in health care has decreased, with only 42% of adults supportive in 2026 compared to 52% in 2024.

- Despite concerns about AI's accuracy and understanding of individual health history, 51% of adults surveyed relied on AI for important health decisions without consulting a medical professional.

- Survey participants commonly use AI to understand symptoms (62%), explain test results (44%), compare treatment options (25%), and prepare for medical appointments (20%).

Artificial intelligence is playing an ever larger role in the delivery of psychotherapy. An interdisciplinary team of University of Utah researchers has built a framework for assessing varying levels of automation in a mental health field reliant on human interaction.

Each year, about 85,000 adolescents and young adults (AYA) between the ages of 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, this represents about 4% of all new cancer diagnoses.

Depending on age and specific diagnosis, many AYA people with cancer may be treated at either a pediatric cancer center or an adult cancer center. However, often these patients don’t feel comfortable in either setting as they feel too old for settings gear toward young children, but too young in centers where most of the patients are elderly.

This population also must navigate challenges surrounding normal milestones for others their age, such as pursuing an education, establishing a career or creating a family. Additionally, financial instability and lack of insurance coverage often deter AYAs from seeking timely medical attention, further complicating their prognosis.

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and the Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT) have several active trials specifically poised to help the AYA population as well as others open to people in the AYA demographic.