Ryan Gryzbowski, Ian Tuttle for BI
It's the diagnosis no one wants to hear: You have cancer.
The disease has become an unfortunate reality in so many of our lives. But an even more troubling trend is cancer's prevalence among young people.
While there's no "good" time to get a cancer diagnosis, it can be particularly devastating to receive it as a younger person.
That's partially due to the financial burden that comes with it. One 2021 report found that a young cancer diagnosis will cost a person roughly $250,000 over their lifetime.
Business Insider spent a year trying to understand the true cost of cancer for young people. You can read the first story in the package here. BI's Hilary Brueck spoke to cancer survivors about how they navigated their cancer diagnoses.
In the days to come, we'll have more coverage on the financial, emotional, and systemic costs that come with these young cancer patients.
That includes stories on twins whose lives diverged when one got colon cancer at age 21, how work can often be a lifeline for young cancer patients, and navigating starting a family while dealing with a deadly disease. We'll also have some exclusive data analysis with the help of GoodRx on the out-of-pocket costs for a young cancer patient in their first year.
As dark a topic as this is, there could be a silver lining.
The tidal wave of AI is approaching the shores of the healthcare industry.
OpenAI is exploring building its own consumer health applications, according to sources close to the company, BI's Rebecca Torrence reports.
To be clear, OpenAI's plans aren't specifically focused on cancer. Instead, it's weighing several opportunities in the space, such as creating a personal health assistant or a health data aggregator, according to Rebecca's reporting.
A big piece of that could be consolidating consumers' health data in one place. (The scattered and siloed nature of health records is what has tripped up tech companies before.)
But if OpenAI (or another Big Tech player) is successful in leveraging AI in healthcare, it could go a long way toward helping people recognize and address problems sooner.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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