Cancer Awareness Trust to pilot support platform in the UK

Cancer Awareness Trust is launching a platform in the UK to support people affected by cancer, designed in partnership with digital product studio, ustwo.

The Cancer Platform will first be piloted with prostate and breast cancer communities, to provide information, services and stories, with the goal to eventually scale globally.

It is designed to serve cancer patients, families, carers and friends, by providing reliable information in a tone that feels compassionate and human.

Jivan Virdee, product principal at ustwo, said: “When making every design decision, we put the patient first, testing key features with people affected by prostate and breast cancer to make sure the experience felt useful, intuitive, and emotionally sensitive.

“We’ve been working with experts, alongside people affected by cancer to gain their feedback throughout the process, to shape the experience.

“We’re proud to be a founding partner in this mission to provide trusted, human-centred answers that reduce fear and build confidence.”

Cancer Awareness Trust asked ustwo to help create a digital product that meets cancer patients with empathy, clarity and evidence-based guidance.

Through a studio ‘discovery’ exercise that included interviews with patients, clinicians and sector leaders, utwo identified four core needs that shaped the platform’s design: empower me with clarity and confidence, comfort and guide me along the way, recognise me as an individual, and show me a positive perspective.

These principles guided the design of early prototypes, defined interaction patterns, and helped shape a product roadmap for the UK pilot.

Tony Colville, managing director at the Cancer Awareness Trust, said: “Our work with ustwo is a true collaboration.

“The alignment of values, people, and mission is something we’d never find anywhere else.”

ustwo explored a range of technical models before building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation knowledge base prototype using Amazon Bedrock.

All information is sourced from medically reviewed content, with a clinician-led team responsible for evaluating and verifying accuracy.

Meanwhile, in June 2025 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust launched an app to provide physical and mental wellbeing support that people can access from local and national charities and groups, advice and guidance in relation to the cost of cancer, and information about the region’s cancer prehabilitation provision.