Advancing Skin Cancer Prediction Using Ensemble Models

Abstract

There are many different kinds of skin cancer, and an early and precise diagnosis is crucial because skin cancer is both frequent and deadly. The key to effective treatment is accurately classifying the various skin cancers, which have unique traits. Dermoscopy and other advanced imaging techniques have enhanced early detection by providing detailed images of lesions. However, accurately interpreting these images to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors remains a difficult task. Improved predictive modeling techniques are necessary due to the frequent occurrence of erroneous and inconsistent outcomes in the present diagnostic processes. Machine learning (ML) models have become essential in the field of dermatology for the automated identification and categorization of skin cancer lesions using image data. The aim of this work is to develop improved skin cancer predictions by using ensemble models, which combine numerous machine learning approaches to maximize their combined strengths and reduce their individual shortcomings. This paper proposes a fresh and special approach for ensemble model optimization for skin cancer classification: the Max Voting method. We trained and assessed five different ensemble models using the ISIC 2018 and HAM10000 datasets: AdaBoost, CatBoost, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and Extra Trees. Their combined predictions enhance the overall performance with the Max Voting method. Moreover, the ensemble models were fed with feature vectors that were optimally generated from the image data by a genetic algorithm (GA). We show that, with an accuracy of 95.80%, the Max Voting approach significantly improves the predictive performance when compared to the five ensemble models individually. Obtaining the best results for F1-measure, recall, and precision, the Max Voting method turned out to be the most dependable and robust. The novel aspect of this work is that skin cancer lesions are more robustly and reliably classified using the Max Voting technique. Several pre-trained machine learning models’ benefits are combined in this approach.