Cancer's most complex decisions are often the least prepared for. We are changing that.
NeedleSpotter builds patient-facing oncology tools that turn complex cancer information into clearer preparation, better questions, and more productive conversations with the care team.
Its flagship platform, Together4Cancer® Beacon, is the decision-readiness layer for oncology.
We work with cancer centers, health systems, and life sciences organizations to help patients prepare more effectively for the conversations and decisions that shape their care.
A missing layer in oncology care.
Cancer care has become increasingly sophisticated.
Patients may need to understand testing, biomarkers, treatment sequencing, clinical trials, symptoms, side effects, logistics, finances, and personal priorities, often while processing a life-changing diagnosis.
Health systems have invested heavily in diagnosis, treatment delivery, navigation, and survivorship. Life sciences organizations have invested heavily in patient education and support.
But one part of the journey often remains fragmented: how patients prepare for the treatment conversation itself.
NeedleSpotter is building infrastructure for that gap.
More information does not automatically create readiness.
Visits move quickly
Patients may be asked to absorb complex information, weigh options, communicate priorities, and participate in decisions within a limited clinical encounter.
Information is fragmented
Pathology may live in one portal, imaging in another, and advice can come from everywhere.
Patients can have access to more information than ever and still be unsure what needs discussion next.
The questions are there. The structure often is not.
Beacon users surface an average of 38+ questions per patient, spanning treatment, testing, symptoms, finances, work, family, logistics, and other priorities.
The challenge is not simply having questions. It is knowing what matters now, what still needs clarification, and what belongs in the next conversation.
That is the layer NeedleSpotter builds.
The decision-readiness layer for oncology.
Together4Cancer Beacon helps patients prepare before treatment discussions, follow-up visits, and other decision points. Patients work through their diagnosis, concerns, priorities, symptoms, side effects, and upcoming decisions, then receive a structured summary they can choose to bring to their care team.
The focus is not treatment recommendation. It is decision readiness.
Share the situation
Patients work through their diagnosis, reports, concerns, priorities, symptoms, and upcoming decisions in their own words and on their own time.
Surface what needs discussion
Beacon helps organize the questions and topics that may be worth raising with the care team.
Leave with a structured summary
Patients receive a concise summary of their priorities, concerns, and questions for discussion. They decide whether, when, and with whom to share it.
Beacon supports preparation before conversations with navigators and clinicians. Clinical decisions remain where they belong, with patients and their care teams.
A working platform, not an AI concept.
The clearest way to understand Beacon is to experience it. Use the interactive sample to see how a patient moves from an unstructured situation to a more organized set of questions and a structured summary for the visit.
Interactive demo · tap inside to begin
Educational only. Not medical advice.
How structured preparation may support the work already happening around the patient.
More informed treatment conversations
Questions, concerns, and priorities surfaced before the visit
More informed and focused discussion
Patient experience, shared decision-making, quality measures
Life SciencesInformed awareness, patient education, biomarker and testing discussions
Clearer communication during treatment
Symptoms, side effects, and concerns organized before the visit
Clearer communication with the care team
Symptom communication, care coordination, patient experience
Life SciencesTreatment education, patient support engagement, understanding of when to raise concerns
More structured navigation
Preparation before navigator conversations
Less time spent reconstructing concerns from scratch
Navigation utilization, navigator capacity, patient support engagement
Life SciencesPatient support awareness and engagement
Better-informed trial conversations
Clear, culturally attuned education about the role of clinical trials
Better-informed conversations about trial participation
Trial awareness, screening conversations, referral pathways
Life SciencesEducational reach and engagement among intended communities
These are potential mechanisms and areas for evaluation, not guaranteed outcomes. Measures should be defined with the participating organization.
Patients are using Beacon today.
Early direct-to-patient deployment. These data are preliminary, but repeat usage, engagement time, and question volume suggest patients are using Beacon actively to prepare for care conversations rather than consume information passively.
Beacon is the flagship. Together4Cancer supports the broader oncology conversation.
For PatientsBeacon
The decision-readiness layer for oncology. Beacon helps patients understand where they are, organize what matters, and prepare for the questions and conversations ahead.
Experience BeaconFor CliniciansCompass
Evidence-focused oncology education for community clinicians, built around concise, practical updates and real-world relevance.
Read CompassFor Patients and CommunitiesEducation
Patient-facing education across disease awareness, treatment expectations, questions to discuss with care teams, and clinical trial awareness.
Explore Together4Cancer Follow @Together4CancerDifferent partners. One goal: better-prepared oncology conversations.
Beacon already reaches patients directly. Partnerships allow health systems and life sciences organizations to expand access in ways that fit their role, while preserving the independence of the patient experience.
Help patients arrive better prepared.
NeedleSpotter works with cancer centers and health systems interested in strengthening patient preparation without inserting another tool into the clinical relationship.
Common use cases include:
Offer free standalone Beacon sessions
Cancer centers can request printed patient cards for waiting rooms, navigation desks, or other patient touchpoints. Patients scan the card and complete Beacon independently.
These sessions are free for patients, self-contained, and do not retain memory or context across sessions.
Request Patient CardsLicense Beacon institutionally
For organizations that want continuity across the patient journey, an institutional license can support memory and context across sessions. That allows patients to build on previous sessions as they move through diagnosis, treatment decisions, active treatment, and follow-up.
- Clinic-specific workflows
- Selected patient populations
- Continuity across sessions
- Aggregate usage and engagement insights
Institutional access is paid and scoped to the needs of the participating organization.
Support patient readiness without shaping the content.
NeedleSpotter offers partnership opportunities for organizations that want to expand access to high-quality oncology preparation and education.
The principle is simple: fund access, not influence.
No sponsor determines which questions surface, which topics are raised, or what educational information a patient receives.
Sponsor patient access
Support Beacon access in relevant therapeutic areas, patient populations, or partner cancer centers.
Sponsorship can fund access and continuity while preserving editorial independence.
Support oncology education
Partner on disease education, treatment-expectation education, clinical trial awareness, or culturally relevant patient engagement through Together4Cancer channels.
Programs are scoped around audience, educational objective, and appropriate compliance guardrails.
30-minute exploratory conversation. No deck required.
Funding access does not mean influencing the answer.
NeedleSpotter maintains editorial independence across Together4Cancer patient education. No pharmaceutical company, health system, sponsor, or other third party determines which questions Beacon surfaces, which topics are raised, or what educational information a patient receives.
Clinical decisions remain between patients and their care teams.
Built at the intersection of oncology, patient engagement, and decision support.
NeedleSpotter was founded by Shruti Agarwal, PhD, a cell biologist with more than 15 years of experience across oncology medical affairs, commercialization, and patient engagement. The company's focus was also shaped by Shruti's experience as a cancer caregiver.
That combination led to a simple thesis:
Patients do not only need more cancer information. They need a better way to prepare for the conversation.
Built specifically around oncology.
Beacon is designed around the kinds of questions and decisions that arise across cancer care, including:
- Biomarker and molecular testing
- Treatment sequencing
- Clinical trial discussions
- Symptoms and treatment-related side effects
- Quality-of-life priorities
- Caregiver involvement
- Financial and logistical barriers
It does not replace clinical expertise. It helps patients arrive better prepared to use it.
A working system you can evaluate directly.
Beacon is live with patients today. Partners can experience the product directly rather than evaluate it through a slide deck or conceptual description.
That matters because the question is not whether AI sounds promising. The question is whether the patient experience is useful, appropriate, and worth integrating into care or support.
Certified small and diverse supplier.
NeedleSpotter Inc. is a WBENC-certified woman-owned business and an SBA-registered small and diverse supplier.
WBENC National Certification
No. WBE2302980
CAGE Code
9MQM1
This can also support supplier-diversity objectives for qualifying partners.
Clear role. Patient control.
Beacon does not diagnose or recommend treatment.
Clinical decisions remain with patients and their care teams.
Beacon does not replace navigators or clinicians.
Its role is preparation.
Beacon is not a billing or EHR tool.
It does not generate billing documentation, require time tracking, or function as an EHR overlay.
Patient conversations are encrypted.
Beacon is designed to keep patient conversations private.
Patients control what they share.
Nothing is automatically transmitted to the care team. Patients decide what to share, when, and with whom.
Beacon is informed by current oncology evidence.
Beacon draws from a curated and continuously updated base of oncology literature and guidelines.
Questions partners usually ask first.
Is Beacon giving patients medical advice?
How much work does this add for clinical staff?
Can pharma support Beacon without influencing the content?
What does it cost?
Looking at patient engagement, navigation, or decision support in oncology?
We work with cancer centers, health systems, and life sciences organizations evaluating new ways to help patients prepare more effectively for care. A short exploratory conversation is enough to determine whether there is a fit.
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