From the founder
fancer.health is a navigation service for newly diagnosed cancer patients and their caregivers. What follows: why we built it, what we believe, and what we'll never do. Take your time.
Background
I was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer at 39. Surgery and adjuvant chemo. Years of clear scans. Then it returned at 42, Stage IV. Over 65 cycles of chemotherapy followed. Last infusion in 2016.
In the years since, friends-of-friends have called: newly diagnosed, looking for someone who could help them through the first weeks. fancer.health is that work, built to scale.
What we believe
A person who just got a cancer diagnosis shouldn't hit a paywall trying to understand their own pathology report. The product is funded by the organizations that serve patients: employers, payers, and health systems. That keeps it free for the people who need it. Patients don't see a price tag.
Your health data is yours. We don't sell it to pharmaceutical companies, advertisers, or any other third party. We don't run targeted advertising against patient content. The business model is straightforward: organizations who serve patients pay us, so patients don't have to.
Medical writing is full of words that exist to protect the writer from liability rather than help the reader understand. Our job is to translate. Every clinical term gets a plain-English explanation. Every acronym gets spelled out. We assume you are smart, not that you went to medical school.
Conventional oncology first. Complementary approaches like nutrition, movement, and mental health support are real and worth integrating. They are support, not substitutes. We tell you what the evidence says. We tell you when the evidence is mixed or thin. Clear sourcing. Honest about uncertainty.
Caregivers carry their own load through a cancer diagnosis. Their wellbeing affects patient outcomes. Their burnout is real. Their need for guidance is real. We build for caregivers with the same care we build for the people they love.
We don't traffic in toxic positivity or "stay strong" platitudes, and we don't soften hard truths into something more palatable. When the news is bad, we say so. When there is reason for hope, we point to it without pretending it is certainty. Cancer is not a journey or a fight. It's a thing that happens to a person, and the person is still a person.
How we work
Every piece of clinical content is reviewed by a qualified healthcare professional before it ships. Oncology nurse practitioners. Oncology social workers. Registered dietitians with cancer experience. Mental health professionals trained in oncology and trauma. Physical therapists who specialize in rehabilitation after treatment.
Every page carries a clear last-reviewed date. If you are reading something on fancer.health and the date feels old, that is a signal to talk to your medical team about whether the science has moved.
Our AI Navigator is grounded in this reviewed content. It doesn't freelance from the open web. When you ask it something outside the bounds of what has been reviewed, it tells you so and points you elsewhere.
We are not your oncologist, your nurse, or your therapist. We are the friend who has been through it, and has read everything the friend who has been through it would read. The job is to help you walk into your medical team's office prepared.
Where we are
fancer.health is in development.
What is live today: this site, the waitlist, and a publication with essays, founder notes, and occasional pieces about cancer, healthcare, and design. The publication is looser than what will eventually be inside the app.
What is coming: the patient roadmap, the AI Navigator, the moderated community, the caregiver-specific tools. We are building these in the order patients tell us they need them.
We will let you know when each is ready.
What we will never do
Sell your health data.
Share it with pharmaceutical companies for marketing.
Run third-party advertising against patient content.
Run sponsored content we have not disclosed, fully and prominently.
Tell you to think positive when the news is bad.
Replace your medical team.
Stay in touch
If you are a patient or caregiver: join the waitlist. We will let you know when fancer.health is ready for you, or for someone you love. Join here.
If you write about cancer, healthcare, or technology and want to talk to us: hello@fancer.health.
If you are a clinician, dietitian, social worker, or mental health professional who works in oncology and wants to contribute: same address.
If you want to follow along while we build this: subscribe to the writing. The link is on the landing page.
Founder, fancer.health