Linear and neural models for classifying breast masses

Computational methods can be used to provide an initial screening or a second opinion in medical settings and may improve the sensitivity and specificity of diagnoses. In the current study, linear discriminant models and artificial neural networks are trained to detect breast cancer in suspicious masses using radiographic features and patient age. Results on 139 suspicious breast masses (79 malignant, 60 benign, biopsy proven) indicate that a significant probability of detecting malignancies can be achieved at the risk of a small percentage of false positives. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis favors the use of linear models, however, a new measure related to the area under the ROC curve (AZ) suggests a possible benefit from hybridizing linear and nonlinear classifiers.