Enhancing Lung Cancer Survival Prediction: 3D CNN Analysis of CT Images Using Novel GTV1-SliceNum Feature and PEN-BCE Loss Function

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TAŞ M. O., YAVUZ H. S.

Diagnostics, vol.14, no.12, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 14 Issue: 12
  • Publication Date: 2024
  • Doi Number: 10.3390/diagnostics14121309
  • Journal Name: Diagnostics
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, EMBASE, INSPEC, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Keywords: 3D CNN, GTV1-SliceNum, lung cancer, medical image analysis, PEN-BCE loss, survival classification
  • Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
  • Eskisehir Osmangazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Lung cancer is a prevalent malignancy associated with a high mortality rate, with a 5-year relative survival rate of 23%. Traditional survival analysis methods, reliant on clinician judgment, may lack accuracy due to their subjective nature. Consequently, there is growing interest in leveraging AI-based systems for survival analysis using clinical data and medical imaging. The purpose of this study is to improve survival classification for lung cancer patients by utilizing a 3D-CNN architecture (ResNet-34) applied to CT images from the NSCLC-Radiomics dataset. Through comprehensive ablation studies, we evaluate the effectiveness of different features and methodologies in classification performance. Key contributions include the introduction of a novel feature (GTV1-SliceNum), the proposal of a novel loss function (PEN-BCE) accounting for false negatives and false positives, and the showcasing of their efficacy in classification. Experimental work demonstrates results surpassing those of the existing literature, achieving a classification accuracy of 0.7434 and an ROC-AUC of 0.7768. The conclusions of this research indicate that the AI-driven approach significantly improves survival prediction for lung cancer patients, highlighting its potential for enhancing personalized treatment strategies and prognostic modeling.