Modern Cancer Diagnostics in the Era of Precision Oncology: From Liquid Biopsy and Molecular Biomarkers to Artificial Intelligence and Multi-Omics Approaches. A Scoping Review

Modern oncological diagnostics increasingly integrates conventional imaging and histopathological techniques with molecular analyses, liquid biopsy, multi-omics technologies, and artificial intelligence (AI). This scoping review aimed to synthesise current knowledge on modern cancer diagnostic approaches and their role in the development of precision oncology. A literature search conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar up to 16 August 2026 identified 143 sources of evidence that met the eligibility criteria and were included in this scoping review. Unlike reviews focused on individual diagnostic technologies, this review integrates imaging diagnostics, liquid biopsy, molecular biomarkers, AI, multi-omics approaches, and patient phenotyping within a precision oncology framework. The literature indicates that cancer diagnostics is evolving from the assessment of isolated parameters towards the integration of clinical, imaging, histopathological, and molecular data. Liquid biopsy, particularly circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) analysis, has emerged as a promising tool for disease monitoring, identifying mechanisms of treatment resistance, and detecting minimal residual disease. Genomic and multi-omics technologies provide deeper insight into tumour biology, while AI, radiomics, and digital pathology facilitate the analysis of complex diagnostic data. Nutritional status and body composition assessment also contribute valuable prognostic and predictive information. The integration of these approaches may improve risk stratification, support earlier cancer detection, enhance treatment monitoring, and facilitate personalised therapeutic decision-making. However, broader clinical implementation requires further standardisation, biomarker validation, assessment of reproducibility, and confirmation of clinical utility.