The efficacy of machine learning models in lung cancer risk prediction with explainability.

Journal: PloS one
Published Date:

Abstract

Among many types of cancers, to date, lung cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers around the world. Many researchers, scientists, doctors, and people from other fields continuously contribute to this subject regarding early prediction and diagnosis. One of the significant problems in prediction is the black-box nature of machine learning models. Though the detection rate is comparatively satisfactory, people have yet to learn how a model came to that decision, causing trust issues among patients and healthcare workers. This work uses multiple machine learning models on a numerical dataset of lung cancer-relevant parameters and compares performance and accuracy. After comparison, each model has been explained using different methods. The main contribution of this research is to give logical explanations of why the model reached a particular decision to achieve trust. This research has also been compared with a previous study that worked with a similar dataset and took expert opinions regarding their proposed model. We also showed that our research achieved better results than their proposed model and specialist opinion using hyperparameter tuning, having an improved accuracy of almost 100% in all four models.

Authors

  • Refat Khan Pathan
    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Chittagong-4381, Bangladesh.
  • Israt Jahan Shorna
    Shamsun Nahar Khan Nursing College, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
  • Md Sayem Hossain
    School of Computing Science, Faculty of Innovation and Technology, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Mayeen Uddin Khandaker
    Centre for Biomedical Physics, School of Healthcare and Medical Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Huda I Almohammed
    Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • Zuhal Y Hamd
    Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.