Cairn

How Cairn is built

Behind Cairn

How Cairn is built

Cairn helps people facing kidney or pancreatic cancer, and the people caring for them, understand what usually comes next and what to ask their care team. This page explains where its information comes from, how it's checked, and how it keeps your information private.

Topics
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Sources cited
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Standard medical codes
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Reviewed by a clinician
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From sources to questions

Four steps, every time

Cairn's topics follow this path. Clinical review is still ahead for this demonstration.

A path connects a source document, a connected topic, a review check, and a question.

  1. Trusted sources

    Everything starts with public, reputable sources, mostly the National Cancer Institute. Cairn explains them in plain words and links back to each one.

  2. Connected topics

    Each topic, such as a type of cancer, a stage, a test, a specialist, or a question to ask, is one entry linked to the others. Together they form a map of what usually comes next.

  3. Checks and review

    Automated checks run on every change: each topic must cite a source, each link must lead somewhere real, and the writing is checked for reading level. Then people review it.

  4. Your map and questions

    The site turns your answers into a map of what usually comes next and a list of questions to bring to an appointment. AI assistants can use the same content.

What Cairn promises

Built to be trusted

These rules are part of how Cairn is made, and automated checks enforce most of them.

  • Every fact has a source

    Each topic links to the pages it comes from, so you can read the original. The content map shows every topic with its sources.

  • Reviewed before it's published

    Topics start as drafts, some written with help from AI tools and marked that way. A physician reviews each one and a second person cross-checks it before it's published.

  • Private by design

    No accounts, no ads, and nothing that follows you. Your answers stay in your browser on your device. Visits are counted with Cloudflare's privacy-friendly analytics: no cookies, and nothing you enter. The site's security policy blocks everything else.

  • Rules, not a chatbot

    What you see comes from set rules applied to reviewed content, not from AI writing answers. The same answers always give the same map, and every rule is tested.

  • Plain language, for everyone

    Written to make difficult medical terms easy for anyone to understand. We aim to explain the words you might hear from your care team. Built to accessibility standards, and to work on older phones.

  • Speaks the language of health records

    Topics carry standard medical codes (NCI Thesaurus, ICD-10-CM, ICD-O-3, LOINC), each marked with how closely it matches, and checked automatically against the official terminology services.

For AI assistants

Information an assistant can use

Through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Cairn shares sourced topics with AI assistants. Cairn does not write their answers.

What Cairn provides

  • Find a topic by name or medical code.
  • Read its plain-language summary, sources, and review status.
  • Build the same care map shown on this site.

Each result includes sources and a medical disclaimer. Cairn asks assistants to cite sources, say when it has no information, and suggest questions for the care team.

MCP access is available on request. Get in touch on LinkedIn.

What's next

Where Cairn is going

  1. Clinical review

    A physician reviews the content and a second reviewer cross-checks it. Then the first reviewed version goes live.

  2. Spanish

    The site and its content in Spanish, with each translation reviewed before it's published.

  3. Clinical trials

    A clinical trial finder, updated every night from ClinicalTrials.gov.

  4. Side effects and support

    Clinician-reviewed warning signs, and practical and financial help.

Get in touch

Questions, or interested in MCP access?

Cairn is built by Brandon Lippincott. Reach out about the project, access for AI assistants, or a problem with the content. For medical questions, please talk with your care team.

Contact on LinkedIn