Use of the SUPPORT+ mobile app, which works by sending a weekly automated reminder to patients prompting them to complete a short questionnaire about their physical and emotional symptoms, helped patients with advanced cancer maintain their quality of life better at 18 weeks than those who did not use the app.

The research was presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, from May 29 to June 2 in Chicago.

“Patients with advanced cancer experience a heavy and fluctuating symptom burden while living primarily in the community. Care is still largely reactive, relying on patients or caregivers to seek help when symptoms worsen. This randomised clinical trial demonstrates that proactively monitoring symptoms using a digital platform, combined with timely nurse follow-up, can help maintain quality of life and reduce unplanned hospitalisations,” said Wing-Lok Chan, MBBS, at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

It currently falls on cancer patients to proactively report any new or worsening symptoms to their health care team.

In this study, researchers wanted to learn if using a mobile app called SUPPORT+ for symptom monitoring could help people with advanced cancer maintain their quality of life better and avoid unplanned emergency visits or hospitalisations. 

The SUPPORT+ app works by sending a weekly automated reminder to patients that prompts them to complete a short questionnaire about their physical and emotional symptoms, either by themselves or through a caregiver.

The app then offers practical guidance on how to manage any mild or moderate symptoms using both non-medication and medication strategies.

If the symptoms the patient reported on the app were severe or worsening, the app would automatically notify a team of palliative care nurses.

A nurse would then follow up with the patient through the app or by telephone to provide support and address the symptoms.

This randomised controlled trial included 1,214 people with advanced cancer who were not being actively treated for cancer.

The participants came from 6 different palliative care clinics in Hong Kong.

The median age of the participants was 78, 50.8% were male, and 67.6% of the users were caregivers. 

The participants were randomly assigned to either use the SUPPORT+ mobile app (590 participants) or to follow usual palliative care instructions (624 participants) for 18 weeks.

Those in the usual care group had standard outpatient palliative care clinic visits every 4 to 12 weeks and would self-report any symptoms to their health care team between visits. 

Symptoms were assessed using the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS), which captures physical, psychological, and practical concerns relevant to palliative care.

To assess health-related quality of life, the researchers used the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, which asks patients to rate their health in 5 areas: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain and discomfort, and anxiety and depression.

An index score is then calculated, with an index score of 1 meaning the best health and an index score of 0 meaning the worst.

Key Findings

• People in the mobile app group maintained their quality of life better at 18 weeks than those in the usual care group. Some drop in quality of life might be expected at 18 weeks, as the cancers were probably advancing without treatment; hence the researchers were comparing the degree of the drop.   
• The final intention to treat (ITT) analysis included 1,214 patients and used both the EQ 5D 5L utility index and the EQ 5D Visual Analogue Scale (VAS):
• Participants using the mobile app saw their EQ 5D 5L index scores increasing from 0.49 at baseline to 0.52 at 18 weeks. By comparison, the usual care group experienced scores decreasing from 0.50 to 0.38 over the same period. 
• EQ 5D 5L VAS scores increased from 63.2 to 65.7 at 18 weeks in the mobile app group but declined in the usual care group from 63.9 to 59.7. 
• In the complete data cohort, which included 633 participants, both EQ 5D 5L utility and VAS scores declined over time in both groups, as expected in this population receiving best supportive care only. 
• The magnitude of decline was consistently smaller in the mobile app group compared with usual care. 
• In the final ITT analysis, 12.4% of people in the mobile app group had a decline in their ECOG Performance Status, which indicates a person’s level of functioning. In the usual care group, 17.4% of participants experienced a decline, but this measurement was not statistically significant. 
• The number of emergency department visits was similar between the 2 groups. Those who used the mobile app had fewer hospital admissions and shorter hospital stays compared to those in the usual care group.

“People with cancer frequently suffer from symptoms such as pain, fatigue, or sleep disturbance and often bear those symptoms silently. When patients are able to report symptoms and receive help, they feel better, and that can lead to better outcomes. This trial adds to the evidence base that patients, with high-quality reporting and interventions, can improve their symptoms and their quality of life. As the trial uses a mobile app for symptom monitoring, patients need to be savvy enough to interact with an app and implement the instructions given,” said Toby Christopher Campbell, MD, MS, a thoracic medical oncologist and Health Chief of Palliative Care at the University of Wisconsin and an ASCO Expert in palliative care.

The researchers plan to develop the SUPPORT+ platform further by exploring the use of AI-supported tools to provide more timely, around-the-clock guidance for patients and caregivers.

These enhancements will be evaluated in feasibility studies first, followed by future randomised clinical trials.

The researchers also plan to conduct formal cost effectiveness analyses to gain more understanding of the health system impact and long-term sustainability of this model of care.

Watch the interview here.

Source: ASCO