Neural network analysis of the prediction of cancer recurrence following debulking laparotomy and chemotherapy in stages III and IV ovarian cancer.

An artificial neural network (ANN) has been developed to predict the presence or absence of cancer following debulking laparotomy and chemotherapy in patients with stages III and IV ovarian cancer. The presence or absence of a residual gross tumor or microscopic disease was determined by a second-look laparotomy. The ANN was trained and tested using detailed operative findings and related surgical procedures associated with the debulking surgery. The ANN predictive results were compared with linear and logistic regression. The ANN significantly outperformed both logistic and linear regression analyses, but additional cases are needed to validate the network.