AI in Palliative Cancer Care: Legislative Strategies and Regulatory Frameworks

Palliative care (PC) and hospice care emphasize the relief of the suffering of life-threatening serious conditions such as cancer, with a focus on the integration of palliative cancer care (PCC) into the health care systems to achieve universal health coverage and promote well-being. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into PCC requires a tailored policy framework to navigate challenges such as costs, data barriers, and workflow integration. Emerging AI technologies show promise in screening for psychological distress and enhancing care delivery, yet regulatory environments remain in their early stages of development. Legislative strategies must adapt to the rapidly evolving AI landscape, with a particular focus on addressing gaps in AI governance specific to palliative care. Transparency, privacy protection, and ethical considerations to ensure equitable access to medications and therapies are paramount in the regulatory framework for AI applications in healthcare. Moving forward, collaboration among stakeholders is essential to ensure ethical priorities are met, and further innovative research is needed to explore domain-specific details and complete disability policies for the optimal integration of AI in palliative care. This paper aims to increase the awareness of policymakers and the public about the size of the addressed problem, the suffering associated with cancer, the importance of PCC as a human right and responsibility, and its integration with cancer disease management strategies to provide more comprehensive cancer care.