Attention-based Generative Latent Replay: A Continual Learning Approach for WSI Analysis
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
May 13, 2025
Abstract
Whole slide image (WSI) classification has emerged as a powerful tool in
computational pathology, but remains constrained by domain shifts, e.g., due to
different organs, diseases, or institution-specific variations. To address this
challenge, we propose an Attention-based Generative Latent Replay Continual
Learning framework (AGLR-CL), in a multiple instance learning (MIL) setup for
domain incremental WSI classification. Our method employs Gaussian Mixture
Models (GMMs) to synthesize WSI representations and patch count distributions,
preserving knowledge of past domains without explicitly storing original data.
A novel attention-based filtering step focuses on the most salient patch
embeddings, ensuring high-quality synthetic samples. This privacy-aware
strategy obviates the need for replay buffers and outperforms other buffer-free
counterparts while matching the performance of buffer-based solutions. We
validate AGLR-CL on clinically relevant biomarker detection and molecular
status prediction across multiple public datasets with diverse centers, organs,
and patient cohorts. Experimental results confirm its ability to retain prior
knowledge and adapt to new domains, offering an effective, privacy-preserving
avenue for domain incremental continual learning in WSI classification.
