The mHealth ALIBIRD Platform: Supporting Cancer Patient Treatment and Follow-up

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. About one-third of cancer deaths are due to the five main dietary and behavioral risk factors. Patients who manage and adopt healthy lifestyles report improved quality of life, reduced treatment toxicity and fatigue, and a possible reduction in the risk of relapse. ALIBIRD2020-CM is a multidisciplinary consortium whose main objective is to apply precision nutrition to improve the prognosis of cancer patients. To achieve this aim, we designed and developed an mHealth platform to empower patients and to support clinical decision-making during the cancer treatment and follow-up phases. We conducted an interventional clinical study with 20 patients with advanced thoracic cancer to validate and evaluate the mHealth platform and its applications. Preliminary results reflect a high level of usability, acceptance, and satisfaction scores in response to meeting the needs of patients and health care professionals. Monitoring clinical variables and their processing on the platform enabled health care professionals to carry out clinical and therapeutic actions, such as detecting progression, bringing forward appointments, therapeutic adjustments, and referrals to specialists. These results suggest that the ALIBIRD mHealth platform is a useful digital health solution, both for cancer patient empowerment and support, and for clinicians to monitor the disease and facilitate clinical decision-making more closely.