Through the Looking Glass: Intercepting and Tracking Cancer with AI

The history of medicine is, in many ways, a history of learning to see. From the earliest clinicians relying on the direct evidence of their senses to decipher the body’s narratives through touch and sound to the transformative moment when lenses first bent light to reveal the hidden world of microbes and cells, progress has often hinged on acquiring new ways of perceiving. The late 19th century brought another such revolution with Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays—invisible emanations that could pierce flesh and etch the shadows of bones onto photographic plates, offering the first noninvasive glimpse into the living human interior. This newfound sight, however primitive initially, fundamentally altered our relationship with disease. Yet, each new way of seeing, from the oil immersion lens th