Current and Future Trends in Imaging Informatics for Oncology

Clinical imaging plays an essential role in cancer care and research for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment response assessment. Major advances in imaging informatics to support medical imaging have been made during the last several decades. More recent informatics advances focus on the special needs of oncologic imaging, yet gaps still remain. We review the current state, limitations, and future trends in imaging informatics for oncology care including clinical and clinical research systems. We review information systems to support cancer clinical workflows including oncologist ordering of radiology studies, radiologist review and reporting of image findings, and oncologist review and integration of imaging information for clinical decision making. We discuss informatics approaches to oncologic imaging including, but not limited to, controlled terminologies, image annotation, and image-processing algorithms. With the ongoing development of novel imaging modalities and imaging biomarkers, we expect these systems will continue to evolve and mature.