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Analyzing oropharyngeal cancer survival outcomes: a decision tree approach
Francesca De Felice1,2, Laia Humbert-Vidan3,4, Mary Lei1
1Department of Clinical Oncology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Objectives:
To analyze survival outcomes in patients with oropharygeal cancer treated with primary intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using decision tree algorithms.
Methods:
A total of 273 patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal cancer were identified between March 2010 and December 2016. The data set contained nine predictor variables and a dependent variable (overall survival (OS) status). The open-source R software was used. Survival outcomes were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. Important explanatory variables were selected using the random forest approach. A classification tree that optimally partitioned patients with different OS rates was then built.
Results:
The 5 year OS for the entire population was 78.1%. The top three important variables identified were HPV status, N stage and early complete response to treatment. Patients were partitioned in five groups on the basis of these explanatory variables.
Conclusion:
The proposed classification tree could help to guide future research in oropharyngeal cancer field.
Advances In Knowledge:
Decision tree method seems to be an appropriate tool to partition oropharyngeal cancer patients.
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