[Research progress on interval cancer]

Interval cancer is defined as malignant tumor newly diagnosed within a specific time window after a negative screening result and before the next routine screening, and its diagnosis is of great significance. This review systematically summarizes recent findings on the incidence, imaging features, pathological characteristics, and prognostic differences of interval lung, breast, gastric, colorectal, and prostate cancers, and most interval cancers have high aggressiveness and poor prognosis, indicating that current cancer screening strategies have certain limitations. Currently, as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence demonstrate exceptional potential in aiding the screening and diagnosis of malignant tumors, clinicians should further optimize screening protocols, engage in multidisciplinary collaboration, develop personalized medical plans, improve the early diagnosis rate of malignant tumors, and enhance patient outcomes.