Lung cancer classification using genetic algorithm to optimize prediction models

Lung cancer is one of the most fatal types of cancer around the world. The World Cancer Research Fund International estimated that in 2012, 1.8 million new cases of this disease were diagnosed. Early diagnosis and classification of this condition prompts medical professionals on safer and more effective treatment of the patient. Availability of microarray technology has paved the way to exploring the genes and its association in various diseases like lung cancer. This study utilized genetic algorithm as a method of feature (genes) selection for the support vector machine and artificial neural network to classify lung cancer status of a patient. Genetic algorithm (GA) successfully identified genes that classify patient lung cancer status with notable predictive performance.