Terms of service

1. What Understanding Cancer is

Understanding Cancer is an education and clinical decision-support service for integrative oncology.

Its AI, Jim, answers questions from a curated, referenced knowledge base.

Understanding Cancer is not a prescribing service. It is not a diagnostic service. It does not replace clinical judgement.

Integrative care is always described as alongside conventional treatment. Nothing in the service is a reason to stop or change conventional treatment.

2. Who can use it

The practitioner service is for registered medical practitioners. When you subscribe, you confirm that you are authorised to practise in your country.

The service for patients and carers is not open yet. People can join a waitlist.

Understanding Cancer is for patients aged 18 and over only. It does not cover children or paediatric cancer.

Understanding Cancer is not offered to people in Australia.

3. Your professional responsibility (practitioners)

Understanding Cancer gives education and decision support.

Every clinical decision stays with you. That includes whether to use, prescribe, change or stop any treatment.

You make those decisions under your own registration, judgement, insurance and the rules of your licensing body.

You confirm this with a required tick at sign-up.

4. About the answers

Answers are generated by an AI system from Understanding Cancer's own knowledge base. See the AI disclosure.

Answers cite their sources.

Material based on our clinicians' practice experience is labelled as clinical experience, not trial evidence.

Where the knowledge base doesn't cover a topic, Jim says so instead of guessing.

AI can make mistakes. Check the sources before relying on an answer.

5. Dose detail

Dose and protocol detail unlocks only after you upload your registration certificate and we have verified it.

Patients and carers never see doses.

6. No patient-identifiable information

Describe cases without names.

Do not enter names, dates of birth, addresses, identification numbers or any other details that could identify a patient.

7. Fair use

Each answer uses computing resources, so a fair-use limit applies to every account. The daily limit is being finalised.

We may slow down or suspend an account that goes over fair use or tries to extract the knowledge base in bulk.

8. Intellectual property and use of content

The knowledge base, the answers and the platform belong to Understanding Cancer.

You may use answers in your own clinical practice.

You may not copy, scrape, bulk-download, resell or redistribute the knowledge base or systematic extracts of it.

You may not use the service to build a competing dataset. Trying to make Jim dump the knowledge base breaks these terms.

You accept this use-of-content clause with a tick at sign-in.

9. Accounts and your record

Each account is for one person. Do not share your login.

Every interaction is logged with a record reference. The log is kept for quality, safety and medico-legal reasons.

You can copy an answer into your medical records.

You can ask us for a copy of your own record.

10. Fees and payment (practitioner founding membership)

Founding membership costs US$99 a month. Your founding rate stays the same for as long as your membership continues.

The price for new members rises to US$189 a month after the first 50 founding members.

Payments are processed by Stripe. At checkout you give your name, e-mail, medical registration number, and medical council and country.

We e-mail your invitation code within 1 business day of payment.

Prices are in US dollars.

11. Cancelling and refunds

You can cancel at any time. Your access continues to the end of the month you have paid for.

Fees for a month that has started are not refunded.

If a practitioner declaration turns out to be false, we close the account and keep the first month's fee as a verification fee.

If a declaration is genuine but we cannot verify it, we refund the fee in full.

Further wording for this section is being finalised.

12. Consultations with Laura Homan (patients and carers)

Laura Homan, our clinical lead for patients, offers one-hour, one-to-one consultations for patients and carers.

A consultation costs £195 or US$260. To book, e-mail support@understandingcancer.online.

Consultations are education and support, alongside the patient's own oncology care.

Further wording for this section is being finalised.

13. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep the service available, but during the founding release it is provided as it is, without a guaranteed uptime.

We announce planned downtime and important changes in the app's "What's new" panel.

14. Liability

As far as the law allows, our liability to you is limited to the fees you paid in the 12 months before the claim.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law does not allow us to limit.

Further wording for this section is being finalised.

15. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms. We will tell you the reason.

We refund unused full months, except where a declaration was false or the use-of-content terms were broken.

16. Changes to these terms

We will give 30 days' notice of changes, in the app and by e-mail.

If you keep using the service after that, you accept the new terms.

17. Governing law

The governing law for these terms is being finalised.

18. Contact

support@understandingcancer.online