Digital Transformation of Cancer Care in the Era of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Interventions: Navigating the Field

Gradual advances in digital technology over the past 20 years have resulted in increase research into the digital transformation of health care1, 2, 3, 4 and implementation of digital health.5,6 While one could argue that the digital transformation of health care is concerned more with the evolution of health care as an industry (eg, evolution in processes, business model, domain applications, cultural and organizational changes), digital health is more concerned with the practical applications of digital technologies in clinical care and their use in everyday health care practices.4,7

The surge in these applications is feasible only because of changes across several domains. First, the exponential increase in the use of digital devices that create and/or capture data, as well as the expansion of data storage capacities and computational power, have allowed for the processing and analysis of large-scale, complicated databases at incredible speed.1,3 These advances have facilitated the creation of more complex machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) systems for use in various aspects of health care.8 Second, the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and digital health tools (eg, next-generation sequencing [NGS], wearable devices, Internet of Things [IoT], mobile apps, social media) has led to the generation of massive amounts of structured and unstructured patient data.9 Third, advances in the fields of multi-omics10,11 and imaging12, 13, 14 have provided deeper insights into the molecular basis of cancer that enabled a more precise understanding of the disease and paved the way for more targeted (precision) treatments.15, 16, 17, 18

In oncology, digital technologies are used to improve cancer treatment outcomes through the use of predictive analytics, decision support systems, and precision health interventions.16, 17, 18, 19 The derived data-driven tools have the potential to optimize the use of resources, aid in clinical decision-making, and significantly improve patient outcomes.20,21 The realization of the potential value of digital technologies has resulted in a growing body of evidence that supports the design, development, and evaluation of digital health interventions in oncology and cancer care.22 The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the field of digital cancer care, with particular attention to big data technologies, AI, and data-driven interventions (Fig. 1).

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