A Machine Learning Approach for Breast Cancer Risk Prediction in Digital Mammography

Francesca Angelone, Alfonso Maria Ponsiglione, Carlo Ricciardi, Maria Paola Belfiore, Gianluca Gatta, Roberto Grassi, Francesco Amato, Mario Sansone

Breast cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in the female population globally. Therefore, screening campaigns as well as approaches to identify patients at risk are particularly important for the early detection of suspect lesions. This study aims to propose a workflow for the automatic classification of patients based on one of the most relevant risk factors in breast cancer, which is represented by breast density. The proposed classification methodology takes advantage of the features automatically extracted from mammographic images, as digital mammography represents the major screening tool in women. Textural features were extracted from the breast parenchyma through a radiomics approach, and they were used to train different machine learning algorithms and neural network models to classify the breast density according to the standard Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) guidelines. Both binary and multiclass tasks have been carried out and compared in terms of performance metrics. Preliminary results show interesting classification accuracy (93.55% for the binary task and 82.14% for the multiclass task), which are promising compared to the current literature. As the proposed workflow relies on straightforward and computationally efficient algorithms, it could serve as a basis for a fast-track protocol for the screening of mammograms to reduce the radiologists’ workload.