AI in Clinical Medicine, ISSN 0000-0000 online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, AI Clin Med and Elmer Press Inc
Journal website https://aicm.elmerpub.com

Review

Volume 1, 2025, e2

Historical Breakthroughs in Oncology: An AI-Assisted Perspective

Figure

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Key milestones in oncology: a chronological artificial intelligence (AI) perspective. This timeline diagram illustrates the major milestone breakthroughs in oncology, spanning from ancient theories to cutting-edge innovations: ancient understanding of cancer (pre-19th century), the birth of modern oncology (19th century), radiation therapy (late 19th - early 20th century), chemotherapy (mid-20th century), hormonal therapy (20th century), advances in surgical oncology: minimally invasive techniques (20th century), radiation therapy innovations (20th - 21st century), targeted therapy: precision medicine (late 20th - 21st century), immunotherapy: a new era in cancer treatment (21st century), genomic revolution: transforming cancer diagnosis and treatment (21st century), liquid biopsy and early detection (21st century), AI in oncology: transforming cancer care (21st century). Some elements in this figure, including specific icons and biological illustrations, were created using BioRender (BioRender.com).

Table

Table 1. Key Milestones in Oncology: From Ancient Theories to AI
 
EraCore themesKey technologies and conceptsMilestone events
ADT: androgen deprivation therapy; AI: artificial intelligence; ALL: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; CAR-T: chimeric antigen receptor T-cell; CRISPR: clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; CT: computed tomography; ctDNA: circulating tumor DNA; DLBCL: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; LINACs: lineal accelerator; MCED: multi-cancer early detection; MOPP: mechlorethamine + vincristine + procarbazine + prednisone; MRD: minimal residual disease; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; PD-1: programmed cell death-1; PD-L1: programmed cell death ligand 1; PET: positron emission tomography.
Ancient understanding of cancer
460 BCE - 1850		Pre-scientific thought, spiritual interpretationHumoral theory, black bile, spiritual healing460 - 370 BCE: Hippocrates - Humoral theory
129 - 216 CE: Galen - Cancer = excess black bile
Scientific birth of oncology
1850 - 1940		Cancer as cellular disease
Imaging and surgery emerge		Microscopy, X-rays, radium therapy, radical mastectomy1855: Virchow - Cellular pathology
1882: Halsted - Radical mastectomy
1895: Roentgen - X-rays for imaging
1898: Curie - Radium for therapy
Therapeutic foundations
1940 - 1990		Establishment of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormones, imaging, and modern surgeryChemotherapy (nitrogen mustard, methotrexate), radiation therapy (LINAC, CT, MRI, PET), hormonal therapy (ADT, tamoxifen) minimally invasive surgery1942: Nitrogen mustard - Lymphoma
1948: Methotrexate - Childhood leukemia
1950s: Linear accelerators
1965: MOPP regimen - Hodgkin’s lymphoma
1971: CT imaging developed
1980s: Minimally invasive surgery
1993: Sentinel lymph node biopsy
Immuno-genomic-AI
2010 - present		Integration of immunotherapy liquid biopsy, CRISPR, multi-omics and AICheckpoint inhibitors, CAR-T, ctDNA-based MRD detection, MCED, CRISPR, AI-enhanced diagnosis and treatment2011: Ipilimumab - First checkpoint inhibitor
2014: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (e.g., pembrolizumab)
2017: CAR-T therapy approved (ALL, DLBCL)
2018: ctDNA methylation profiling for MRD detection
2020: MCED blood tests emerge
2020s: mRNA-based cancer vaccines
2020s: AI in diagnosis, treatment planning, drug discovery