Our scientists in China use AI technology to achieve "digital delayering" of tumors.

For a long time, scientists have been hoping to separate tumors from normal tissues without surgery, similar to removing a fruit pit from the flesh, in order to precisely destroy them during radiotherapy and reduce damage to normal organs. Nowadays, Chinese scientists have achieved this goal in clinical practice using artificial intelligence technology. In the radiotherapy treatment room of the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center at Sun Yat-sen University, a nose cancer patient underwent CT and treatment unit scans, and the images of the tumor immediately appeared on the computer screen in front of the doctor. The doctor used the "digital separation" technology in the system, and AI quickly outlined the radiotherapy target area. After the doctor's comparison, inspection, and modification, the radiotherapy target area was finally confirmed, and the machine immediately performed adaptive radiotherapy, completing a precise treatment for the patient in less than 30 minutes. In September last year, the team led by Ma Jun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor at the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center of Sun Yat-sen University, jointly developed the International Guidelines and Atlas for the Mapping of Radiotherapy Target Areas of Nasopharyngeal Cancer with top experts worldwide, which was officially released and published synchronously in The LancetOncology. This also provides theoretical support for training artificial intelligence to identify radiotherapy target areas for nasopharyngeal cancer.