Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 24, 2022; 13(2): 125-134
Published online Feb 24, 2022. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v13.i2.125
Artificial intelligence and cholangiocarcinoma: Updates and prospects
Hossein Haghbin, Muhammad Aziz
Hossein Haghbin, Department of Gastroenterology, Ascension Providence Southfield, Southfield, MI 48075, United States
Muhammad Aziz, Department of Gastroenterology, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH 43614, United States
Author contributions: Haghbin H and Aziz M designed and performed the research study. Haghbin H and Aziz M wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hossein Haghbin, MD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Ascension Providence Southfield, 16001 W Nine Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075, United States. hoshaq@yahoo.com
Received: November 9, 2021
Peer-review started: November 9, 2021
First decision: December 27, 2021
Revised: January 9, 2022
Accepted: January 25, 2022
Article in press: January 25, 2022
Published online: February 24, 2022
Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the timeliest field of computer science and attempts to mimic cognitive function of humans to solve problems. In the era of “Big data”, there is an ever-increasing need for AI in all aspects of medicine. Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most common primary malignancy of liver that has shown an increase in incidence in the last years. CCA has high mortality as it is diagnosed in later stages that decreases effect of surgery, chemotherapy, and other modalities. With technological advancement there is an immense amount of clinicopathologic, genetic, serologic, histologic, and radiologic data that can be assimilated together by modern AI tools for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CCA. The literature shows that in almost all cases AI models have the capacity to increase accuracy in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CCA. Most studies however are retrospective, and one study failed to show AI benefit in practice. There is immense potential for AI in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CCA however limitations such as relative lack of studies in use by human operators in improvement of survival remains to be seen.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, Cholangiocarcinoma, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis

Core Tip: The wide array of modalities available to treat cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in addition to the diversity of the tumor urges us to use individualized therapy. To establish the proper approach to diagnose, treat, and prognose CCA, analysis of available data is the key to achieve the individualized care. Artificial intelligence can be a potential modality for achieving this goal.