Life Guide 2026 release: Next-generation Cancer Calculator

Underwriting is evolving – and so Life Guide. Discover the 2026 release enhancements including a new Cancer Calculator, updated cancer guidance, interactive 3D models and alternative nicotine – all updates are embedded in Life Guide Scout, our AI-powered underwriting assistant.

With around 20 million people diagnosed each year, cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality and insurance claims worldwide. Advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment mean more people are surviving cancer, creating increasingly complex underwriting scenarios that require up-to-date, evidence-based risk assessment.

To help insurers keep pace with these changes, the Life Guide 2026 release features major enhancements to our cancer underwriting guidance.

Trusted by more than 800 insurance companies across over 100 countries, Life Guide is one of the insurance industry's leading and most widely used underwriting resources.

The centrepiece of our release is a redesigned Cancer Calculator, providing data-driven guidance through an intuitive, modern interface. The enhanced tool enables underwriters to navigate complex cancer cases more efficiently, while promoting greater consistency, transparency and confidence in decision making. The update includes one of the most comprehensive updates to Life Guide's cancer content, incorporating the latest clinical evidence across major cancers, including breast, colorectal, lymphoma, melanoma and prostate cancers.

With around 20 million people diagnosed each year, cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality and insurance claims worldwide. Advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment mean more people are surviving cancer, creating increasingly complex underwriting scenarios that require up-to-date, evidence-based risk assessment.

To help insurers keep pace with these changes, the Life Guide 2026 release features major enhancements to our cancer underwriting guidance.

Trusted by more than 800 insurance companies across over 100 countries, Life Guide is one of the insurance industry's leading and most widely used underwriting resources.

The centrepiece of our release is a redesigned Cancer Calculator, providing data-driven guidance through an intuitive, modern interface. The enhanced tool enables underwriters to navigate complex cancer cases more efficiently, while promoting greater consistency, transparency and confidence in decision making. The update includes one of the most comprehensive updates to Life Guide's cancer content, incorporating the latest clinical evidence across major cancers, including breast, colorectal, lymphoma, melanoma and prostate cancers.

Cancer risk has become more complex in recent years, with advancements reshaping outcomes and survival. Life Guide's updated Cancer Calculator brings together the latest evidence and decades of underwriting expertise to help insurers make more consistent, transparent and confident decisions.
This is the profile picture of Natalie Kelly.
Natalie Kelly, Head Global Underwriting, Claims & R&D

The new guidance reflects advances in cancer staging, tumour biology, treatment pathways and clinical outcomes. These support the assessment of increasingly common and complex scenarios, with optimised rating tables that improve translation of the risk into underwriting action. 

To further enhance the user experience, Life Guide now includes interactive 3D anatomical models across selected cancer topics, as well as other medical impairment such as sleep apnoea, diverticular disease and cardiomyopathy.

The 2026 Life Guide release also expands tobacco and nicotine guidance to reflect today's changing landscape. Updated content covers a broader range of products, including e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and smoked or vaporized cannabis. Life Guide also captures the latest testing approaches and clarifies how biomarkers can help distinguish tobacco use from alternative nicotine products.

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