Application of artificial intelligence in early warning, diagnosis and precise treatment of head and neck tumors (Review).

Head and neck tumors face challenges in clinical practice such as difficulty in early warning, delayed diagnosis, and insufficient individualized treatment due to their complex anatomical structure and insidious early symptoms. In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the medical field has brought new opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck tumors. With its powerful data processing and pattern recognition capabilities, it provides new ideas for solving problems related to early cancer diagnosis, planning optimal treatment strategies, and predicting patient survival likelihood. However, the clinical translation of AI models still faces bottlenecks such as data standardization, model generalization, and ethical compliance. In the future, it is necessary to build a multi-center collaboration platform and develop interpretable algorithms to promote the deep integration of AI technology and clinical practice. The present review analyzes and summarizes the latest progress of AI in head and neck malignant tumors and explores its application and development prospects in cancer research and clinical practice.