Quantum Machine Learning in Oncology: A Systematic Review of Clinical Applications, Challenges, and Future Research Directions
Yanche Ari Kustiawan, Khairil Imran Ghauth
This research project presents a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review exploring the application of quantum machine learning (QML) in oncology, a rapidly growing field with fragmented evidence. The study synthesizes peer-reviewed studies from six databases (ACM, IEEE, MDPI, Scopus, Wiley, and PubMed) published between 2020 and 2026, screening 212 records and selecting 49 studies for analysis. The review examines clinical tasks, cancer domains, QML architectures, challenges, and future directions, revealing that current research mainly focuses on classification and detection, particularly in breast cancer and brain tumors, using hybrid quantum-classical models. Despite promising results, progress is limited by hardware constraints, simulator dependence, and insufficient clinical validation. The findings provide a clear overview of current QML trends and highlight future priorities, including real quantum hardware testing, diverse clinical datasets, standardized benchmarking, and stronger collaboration between computing and oncology communities.
•Jul 12, 2026•0 citations