Bridging Gaps in Cancer Care: Utilizing Large Language Models for Accessible Dietary Recommendations

Background/Objectives: Weight management is directly linked to cancer recurrence and survival, but unfortunately, nutritional oncology counseling is not typically covered by insurance, creating a disparity for patients without nutritional education and food access. Novel ways of imparting personalized nutrition advice are needed to address this issue. Large language models (LLMs) offer a promising path toward tailoring dietary advice to individual patients. This study aimed to assess the capacity of LLMs to offer personalized dietary advice to patients with breast cancer. Methods: Thirty-one prompt templates were designed to evaluate dietary recommendations generated by ChatGPT and Gemini with variations within eight categorical variables: cancer stage, comorbidity, location, culture, age, dietary guideline, budget, and store. Seven prompts were selected for four board-certified oncology dietitians to also respond to. Responses were evaluated based on nutritional content and qualitative observations. A quantitative comparison of the calories and macronutrients of the LLM- and dietitian-generated meal plans via the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges and United States Department of Agriculture's estimated calorie needs was performed. Conclusions: The LLMs generated personalized grocery lists and meal plans adapting to location, culture, and budget but not age, disease stage, comorbidities, or dietary guidelines. Gemini provided more comprehensive responses, including visuals and specific prices. While the dietitian-generated diets offered more adherent total daily calorie contents to the United States Department of Agriculture's estimated calorie needs, ChatGPT and Gemini offered more adherent macronutrient ratios to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range. Overall, the meal plans were not significantly different between the LLMs and dietitians. LLMs can provide personalized dietary advice to cancer patients who may lack access to this care. Grocery lists and meal plans generated by LLMs are applicable to patients with variable food access, socioeconomic means, and cultural preferences and can be a tool to increase health equity.