MINI REVIEW article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Health Technology Implementation
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1633577
Artificial Intelligence in Oncology: Promise, Peril, and the Future of Patient–Physician Interaction
Provisionally accepted
- 1California University of Science and Medicine, Colton, United States
- 2Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Department of Medicine, New York, United States
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in oncology. While initial technical evaluations emphasize diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, the impact on patient–physician interaction (PPI)—the foundation of trust, communication, comprehension, and shared decision-making—remains underexplored. In this review, we studied the current development of AI technology facing both physicians and patients with a focus in cancer care. Among different AI technologies, chatbots, large language model agents, and extended reality applications have shown the promise to date. Survey data suggest oncologists recognize AI's potential to augment efficiency but remain cautious about liability and the erosion of relational care. Key to future AI success in improving cancer care critically depends on design, validation, governance, and human guidance and gatekeeping in care delivery.
Keywords: artificial intelligence, oncology, patient–physician interaction, Chatbots, Extended Reality, Communication, shared decision-making
Received: 24 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Thind and Tsao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Birpartap Thind, birpartapthind@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.