对于香港的癌症患者而言，情绪困扰可能超出诊疗范围持续存在。一项对多项研究的大规模综合分析显示，抑郁和焦虑与较低的生存率相关联。
For cancer patients in Hong Kong, emotional distress can persist beyond the clinic, with a large combined analysis of multiple studies linking depression and anxiety to lower chances of survival.
香港中文大学（CUHK）医学院学生陈舒盈正在开发 CancerCompanion，这是一款旨在提供情感支持的数字伴侣，可在预约之间使用，包括深夜时分——此时专业帮助可能无法立即获得。
Claudia Chan Shu-ying, a medical student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), is developing CancerCompanion, a digital companion designed to offer emotional support between appointments, including late at night when professional help may not be immediately available.
该系统利用人工智能驱动的对话提供结构化支持，同时将医学问题引导至医疗团队，并标记潜在的自伤案例以供人工审查。
The system uses AI-powered conversations to offer structured support while directing medical questions to healthcare teams and flagging potential cases of self-harm for human review.
陈舒盈是今年由信和集团和《南华早报》共同主办的“香港精神奖”青年组别的决赛选手。她正在休学一年，以完成研究医学硕士学位。该项目源于她在医学院前两年参与社区健康筛查项目时的对话。
Chan is a finalist in the youth category of this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, co-organised by Sino Group and the South China Morning Post. She is taking a year out from her medical degree to complete a master’s degree in research medicine. The project grew out of conversations she had during community health screening programmes in her first two years of medical school.
癌症患者和幸存者描述了疾病带来的情感负担，包括预约之间他们无人可谈或不愿给家人添麻烦的时候。
Cancer patients and survivors described the emotional burden of the disease, including times between appointments when they had no one to talk to or did not want to burden their families.
陈舒盈表示，团队已在人工智能中植入防护措施，以防止其提供医学建议，并将临床问题直接引导至医疗团队。
Chan said the team had built safeguards into the AI to prevent it from giving medical advice and direct clinical questions to healthcare teams instead.
团队也意识到，脆弱患者可能对人工智能聊天机器人产生过度依赖的风险。
The team is also mindful of the risk that vulnerable patients could become too dependent on an AI chatbot.
“我不认为它能取代人与人之间的联系。它只是可以在间隙中提供支持，”她说。
“I don’t see it as replacing human connection. It’s something that can provide support in between,” she said.
该系统主要面向经历相对较轻情绪困难的人群。对于有中度或重度心理健康需求的人，仍需要专业帮助，且用户将被鼓励维持真实生活中的联系。
The system is intended primarily for people experiencing relatively mild emotional difficulties. Those with moderate or severe mental health needs would still require professional help, and users would be encouraged to maintain real-life connections.
另一项保障措施旨在检测暗示自伤或自杀念头的语言。这些情况将由人工审查，必要时转介给社会工作者或其他专业人员。
Another safeguard is designed to detect language suggesting self-harm or suicidal thoughts. These cases would be reviewed by a person and, where necessary, referred to social workers or other professionals.
CancerCompanion 仍在开发中，尚未作为一般患者服务提供。一项评估该伴侣对患者心理健康和生活质量影响的临床研究已于八月获得伦理批准。该系统借鉴了认知行为疗法（CBT）的原则。该团队还为其人工智能驱动的对话系统提交了美国临时专利申请。
CancerCompanion remains in development and is not yet available as a general patient service. A clinical study to assess the companion’s effects on patients’ mental health and quality of life received ethics approval in August. The system draws on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The team has also filed a US provisional patent application for its AI-powered conversational system.
陈表示，测试将逐步进行。研究人员最初计划观察参与者使用该系统并收集即时反馈。
Chan said testing would proceed gradually. Researchers initially plan to observe participants using the system and gather immediate feedback.
在后续阶段，患者将使用该系统四周，随后研究人员将评估包括抑郁和焦虑评分在内的指标。
In a later phase, patients would use it for four weeks before researchers assessed measures including depression and anxiety scores.
患者的意见自项目 outset 起就指导着项目。开发前，团队曾与癌症幸存者进行深入访谈。此后，幸存者、非政府组织工作人员以及香港中文大学精神病学和肿瘤学教授审查了系统的各个版本。
Patient input has guided the project from the outset. The team conducted in-depth interviews with cancer survivors before development began. Survivors, NGO staff and CUHK professors in psychiatry and oncology have since reviewed versions of the system.
陈表示，指导原则是与患者共同开发技术，而不是假设他们需要什么。
Chan said the guiding principle was to develop the technology with patients rather than assume what they needed.
CancerCompanion 在 2025 年获得了教授 Charles K. Kao 学生创造奖的本科生组别冠军，并在同年的香港中文大学校长杯学生创业大赛中获得亚军。
CancerCompanion won the undergraduate group category at the Professor Charles K. Kao Student Creativity Awards in 2025 and was first runner-up in CUHK’s Vice-Chancellor’s Cup of Student Entrepreneurship that year.
陈的其他工作包括一个深度学习项目，用于评估香港中文大学风湿病学的关节状况，该项目在 2026 年获得了校长杯。她还曾与香港中文大学机器人团队合作进行软件工程和嵌入式编程工作。
Chan’s other work includes a deep-learning project to assess joint conditions at CUHK Rheumatology, which won the Vice-Chancellor’s Cup in 2026. She has also worked on software engineering and embedded programming with the CUHK Robotics Team.
她感谢了她的 CancerCompanion 团队成员和顾问，包括香港中文大学精神病学和肿瘤学教授、患者倡导者和非政府组织工作人员。她还承认了风湿病学研究人员对她硕士研究的指导。
She credited her CancerCompanion teammates and advisers, including CUHK professors in psychiatry and oncology, patient advocates and NGO staff. She also acknowledged the rheumatology researchers advising her master’s research.
陈计划明年返回医学院进行医院实习。长期来看，她希望从事学术医学工作，将研究与临床工作相结合。
Chan plans to return to medical school next year for hospital placements. In the longer term, she hopes to pursue academic medicine, combining research with clinical work.
香港精神奖成立于2013年，旨在表彰那些默默奉献、否则可能被公众忽视的香港无名英雄及组织。
The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards were established in 2013 to recognise the city’s unsung heroes and organisations whose work might otherwise escape public attention.