August 08, 2025
4 min watch
Healio spoke with Afreen Shariff, MD, MBBS, co-founder of Citrus Oncology, about their digital most cancers help clinic of specialists to assist handle uncomfortable side effects of most cancers remedy.
Key takeaways:
- Citrus Oncology’s digital most cancers help clinic connects sufferers with specialists inside 3 days.
- The platform gives a “security web” to deal with uncomfortable side effects linked to remedy.
A digital multispecialty most cancers help clinic intends to “join the dots” to match sufferers with specialists inside 3 days to assist handle uncomfortable side effects of most cancers remedy, together with drug reactions and treatment-emergent adversarial occasions.
“About 85% of most cancers sufferers obtain their most cancers remedies in neighborhood most cancers facilities the place entry to specialists like endocrinologists, cardiologists and dermatologists is absolutely nonexistent,” Afreen Shariff, MD, MBBS, co-founder of Citrus Oncology and director of the Duke Endo-Oncology program, instructed Healio. “We’re residing on this gaping hole the place uncomfortable side effects are usually not unusual or uncommon however fairly routine, and our specialty care has not stored tempo with the rising wants of most cancers sufferers.”
Shariff estimates that as greater than 70% of sufferers have no less than one preexisting situation when they’re knowledgeable of their most cancers prognosis — often diabetes or heart problems — which might complicate remedy or worsen consequently.
“We’re anticipating loads from our oncologists, as a result of layered on high of those very efficient remedies are uncomfortable side effects that require specialists to comanage,” Shariff stated. “We’re asking oncologists to turn into endocrinologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, and it’s taking them away from what they do very well, which is treating most cancers. A security web like Citrus Oncology supplies entry to specialists who can soar in on the proper time and comanage the affected person with [the oncologist].”
Citrus Oncology was one in every of solely 14 startups chosen for the distinguished 2025 CancerX Accelerator cohort, a extremely aggressive program spotlighting the following wave of digital innovation in oncology.
CancerX, a nationwide initiative hosted by Moffitt Most cancers Middle in collaboration with the Workplace of the Nationwide Coordinator for Well being Info Expertise and the Workplace of the Assistant Secretary for Well being, brings collectively modern startups leveraging digital well being and AI to sort out essentially the most urgent challenges in most cancers care.
The CancerX Accelerator program supplies startups with direct entry to trade champions, mentors and a sturdy community of specialists. Startups additionally profit from tailor-made product suggestions, pilot alternatives with main well being care organizations and the potential for industrial agreements.
“CancerX has been a journey of discovery with our shoppers and our potential to see past what we thought was an issue and actually perceive what our clients and companions actually needed,” Shariff stated. “Having that huge panorama of showcasing our work actually allowed us to soak up completely different viewpoints, completely different wants, completely different components of the puzzle that we actually wanted to unravel.”
On this video, Shariff shares insights into why she selected to take part within the CancerX Accelerator, the alternatives it has supplied to the corporate and the way Citrus Oncology permits oncologists to “democratize the look after uncomfortable side effects” and provides possession to the specialists.
Because the official media associate of the CancerX 2025 Accelerator cohort, Healio will showcase key breakthroughs and achievements by way of unique interviews with this 12 months’s startups in addition to alumni teams from the 2024 program.
Purposes for the 2026 CancerX Accelerator cohort will open Sept. 2, 2025, completely for CancerX members, with public purposes opening Sept. 9, 2025. Be a part of the CancerX neighborhood right here.
References:
For extra info:
Afreen Shariff, MD, MBBS, could be reached on LinkedIn right here.
