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Topic · Artificial Intelligence

AI in cancer detection

AI in cancer detection is a research topic within Artificial Intelligence. Science Explorer counts 43k research works in it since 1951. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the application of deep learning and machine learning techniques in medical image analysis, particularly in the context of histopathology images, digital pathology, and computer-aided detection for breast cancer diagnosis. The use of convolutional neural networks and whole slide imaging is prominent in these studies, aiming to improve accuracy and efficiency in cancer prognosis and prediction.

  • Deep Learning
  • Medical Image Analysis
  • Histopathology Images
  • Computer-Aided Detection
  • Convolutional Neural Networks
  • Digital Pathology
  • Breast Cancer Diagnosis
  • Machine Learning
  • Whole Slide Imaging
  • Cancer Prognosis
Research works
43k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
4.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+124%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
India
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
AI in cancer detection

Which countries lead AI in cancer detection research?

By volume, India and China publish the most (4.8k and 4.3k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 India 4.8k works
  2. 2 China 4.3k works
  3. 3 United States 2.7k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 607 works
  5. 5 Germany 483 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 441 works
  7. 7 Indonesia 430 works
  8. 8 South Korea 422 works
  9. 9 Italy 414 works
  10. 10 Japan 371 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

India: 31.9%China: 28.8%United States: 18.2%United Kingdom: 4.0%6 others listed: 17.1%32%largest
India4,792 · 31.9%China4,314 · 28.8%United States2,726 · 18.2%United Kingdom607 · 4.0%6 others listed2,561 · 17.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead AI in cancer detection research?

By volume in 2022-now, SRM Institute of Science and Technology publishes the most AI in cancer detection research, followed by Saveetha University and Vellore Institute of Technology University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 SRM Institute of Science and TechnologyIndia 178 works
  2. 2 Saveetha UniversityIndia 171 works
  3. 3 Vellore Institute of Technology UniversityIndia 159 works
  4. 4 Chitkara UniversityIndia 122 works
  5. 5 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 107 works
  6. 6 Harvard UniversityUnited States 106 works
  7. 7 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 89 works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 88 works
  9. 9 Amrita Vishwa VidyapeethamIndia 88 works
  10. 10 Manipal Academy of Higher EducationIndia 86 works

Who are the leading researchers in AI in cancer detection?

The most-cited researchers publishing on AI in cancer detection include Douglas G. Altman, Ahmedin Jemal and Yoshua Bengio.

  1. 1 Douglas G. Altman United Kingdom 862k citations
  2. 2 Ahmedin Jemal United States 761k citations
  3. 3 Yoshua Bengio Canada 476k citations
  4. 4 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  5. 5 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  6. 6 Robert John Tibshirani United States 396k citations
  7. 7 Bert Vogelstein United States 373k citations
  8. 8 Gad A. Getz United States 364k citations
  9. 9 Hermann Brenner Germany 343k citations
  10. 10 John P. A. Ioannidis United States 317k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in AI in cancer detection?

The most cited paper in AI in cancer detection is "A survey on deep learning in medical image analysis" (Geert J. S. Litjens, Thijs Kooi, Babak Ehteshami Bejnordi et al., 2017), with 15,309 citations. Next come "pROC: an open-source package for R and S+ to analyze and compare ROC curves" (14,550) and "Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks" (14,423).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A survey on deep learning in medical image analysis Geert J. S. Litjens, Thijs Kooi, Babak Ehteshami Bejnordi et al. · Medical Image Analysis Open access 26 Jul 2017 15,309
2 pROC: an open-source package for R and S+ to analyze and compare ROC curves Xavier Robin, Natacha Turck, Alexandre Hainard et al. · BMC Bioinformatics Open access 17 Mar 2011 14,550
3 Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks Andre Esteva, Brett Kuprel, Roberto A. Novoa et al. · Nature Open access 25 Jan 2017 14,423
4 A survey on Image Data Augmentation for Deep Learning Connor Shorten, Taghi M. Khoshgoftaar · Journal Of Big Data Open access 6 Jul 2019 13,152
5 QuPath: Open source software for digital pathology image analysis Peter Bankhead, Maurice Bernard Loughrey, José A. Fernández et al. · Scientific Reports Open access 28 Nov 2017 9,140
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is AI in cancer detection research done?

The largest centres of AI in cancer detection research in 2022-now are Chennai (India), Beijing (China), Shanghai (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kanniyākumāri and Vijayawada.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ChennaiIndia 651 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 493 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 391 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 268 works
  5. 5 BengaluruIndia 247 works
  6. 6 CoimbatoreIndia 234 works
  7. 7 DhakaBangladesh 227 works
  8. 8 SeoulSouth Korea 217 works
  9. 9 ChengduChina 173 works
  10. 10 LondonUnited Kingdom 171 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KanniyākumāriIN · 20.8 works24×
  2. VijayawadaIN · 106.8 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in AI in cancer detection than the world average.

See AI in cancer detection on the map

Where is the best place to study AI in cancer detection?

Among universities, judged by research, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Jouf University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.16%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Gachon UniversityJouf UniversityHong Kong University…Princess Nourah bint…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman UniversitySaudi Arabia 73.729.1%5.7×27 +304.2%
2Jouf UniversitySaudi Arabia 68.732.3%5.2×13 +420.7%
3Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyChina 67.231.0%2.5×19 +233.4%
4Gachon UniversitySouth Korea 65.933.3%4.2×18 +139.5%
5Vellore Institute of Technology UniversityIndia 65.412.9%8.8×158 +268.0%
6Harvard UniversityUnited States 64.115.3%1.8×106 +30.3%
7Qatar UniversityQatar 62.932.2%2.7×14 +604.4%
8Saveetha UniversityIndia 62.68.3%9.8×172 +1808.3%
9COMSATS University IslamabadPakistan 61.524.4%3.7×16 +49.4%
10King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 61.422.8%1.8×32 +135.3%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in AI in cancer detection, country by country

Is AI in cancer detection research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 124% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are AI in cancer detection.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is AI in cancer detection as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.093% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%AI in cancer detection0.10% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of AI in cancer detection over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%AI in cancer detection9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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