Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04026-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE - SPECIAL ISSUE - INTELLIGENT COMPUTING

AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

New Approaches in Metaheuristic to Classify Medical Data Using

Artificial Neural Network
Soumya Das1 · Sarojananda Mishra2 · Manas Ranjan Senapati3

Received: 14 January 2019 / Accepted: 2 July 2019 / Published online: 10 July 2019
© King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2019

Abstract
Artificial Neural Networks have been applied as a useful technique for classification. Based on the above, we propose a
method called Velocity-Enhanced Whale Optimization Algorithm which is hybridized with Artificial Neural Network for
classifying and diagnosing the different cancer data like breast cancer, cervical cancer and lungs cancer. The proposed
algorithm is compared with four other benchmark algorithms available in the texts, i.e., C4.5, Learning Vector Quantiza-
tion, Linear Discriminate Analysis and Factorized Distribution Algorithm. Robustness of proposed approach is validated by
calculating the Correct Classification Rate, Averaged Square Classification Error which demonstrates that its performance
is better than other techniques.

Keywords  Velocity-Enhanced Whale Optimization Algorithm (VEWOA) · Artificial Neural Network · Linear Discriminate
Analysis (LDA) · Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) · Factorized Distribution Algorithm (FDA)

1 Introduction signs can be detected at an early stage; however, in the later

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of death
worldwide. In 2012, nearly 528,000 cases of cervical can-
cer were reported. This contributes to 8% of total cases
and total death from cancer. About 70% of cervical can-
cer was reported in developing countries. Basically, cancer
occurs due to abnormal growth of a specific type of body
cell that has the ability to invade any parts of the body. No
Soumya Das is a Ph.D. Scholar at Biju Patnaik University of
Technology, Rourkela.
* Manas Ranjan Senapati
manassena@gmail.com
Soumya Das
aug10.soumya@gmail.com
Sarojananda Mishra
sarose.mishra@gmail.com
1
Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Rourkela, India
2
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indira
Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, Sarang, India
3
Department of Information Technology, Veer Surendra Sai
University of Technology, Burla, India
stage bleeding, pelvic pain are some of the symptoms. In
90% cases, human papillomavirus infection (HPV) causes
cervical cancer. Other risk factors include smoking, weak
immune system and birth control pills. HPV vaccine pro-
tects against 90% of cervical cancer, but the risk of cancer
relapse remains the same. PAP test or acetic acid is used to
screen the cervical cancer at precancerous stages. Basically,
it monitors the precancerous changes occurring inside body.
Treatment of cervical cancer consists of surgery, chemo-
therapy and radiation therapy. While the result of success in
5-year survival rate in USA is up to 68% [1], still the success
rate depends solely on early detection.
Lung cancer can be defined by uncontrolled cell growth
in tissue of lung. The growth of the cancerous tissue spreads
beyond lung into other parts of the body by a process called
metastasis. The lung cancer also known as lung carcinoma
can be categorized into two types: small-cell lung carcinoma
(SCLC) and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) [2].
The most common symptoms are coughing, weight loss,
shortness of breath and chest pain. The most influential
cancer-causing actor is smoking. Nearly 10–15% of non-
smokers are detected to be cancerous. In that case, the can-
cer is caused by combination of genetic factors exposure
to radon gas asbestos, second-hand smoke or other forms

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of air pollution. It can be seen on chest cardiographics and
computerized tomography (CT) scans. The diagnosis is con-
firmed by biopsy. In 2012, nearly 1.8 million people were
diagnosed with lung cancer and from that nearly 1.6 million
people lost their lives to it. This makes it the second most
common in women and one of the primary causes of death
among men.
Breast cancer is considered as main reason of death
in women. This type of cancer cannot be identified at an
early stage [3]. Thus, it is very difficult to recognize the
accurate symptoms of breast cancer [4]. Women suffer-
ing from breast cancer before can have the risk of having
this disease once again. Early detection of breast cancer
is the only way to overcome this disease. A lot of tests are
performed to know the tumors are malignant one or not
[5]. Difficulty of breast cancer is that most women hesitate
to show all these symptoms and signs at the diagnosis
time. One of the best ways for detection of the nature of
cancer in breast is biopsy. But rate of success in biopsy
is within 10–31%. The ‘malignant group’ is lately being
detected using artificial intelligence. Breast cancer diagno-
sis (BCD) issue is termed as arrangement issue [6]. In this
regard, machine learning is considered as highly effective
due to its anonymity that makes more effective against
complex nonlinear relationships within variables. Around
the globe, researchers are highly interested to study this
type of problem.
Researchers in the ground of cancer detection give impor-
tant information about the course and outcome of this dis-
ease. Different machine learning algorithm has become a
significant tool that can be used to learn patterns in medical
data repositories [7]. Different strategies of classification are
widely used in medical domain for classification of data into
various classes according to few constraints. Researchers are
conducting experiments to diagnose the diseases using dif-
ferent classification methods of machine learning techniques
like Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Linear Discrimi-
nant Analysis (LDA) as researchers are working better to
diagnose various resources [8].
In this paper, breast cancer, cervical cancer and lung can-
cer are evaluated by the use of Artificial Neural Network
(ANN) trained with Velocity-Enhanced Whale Optimiza-
tion Algorithm (VEWOA). ANN is also trained by lots of
different techniques like K-nearest neighbor (KNN), logis-
tic regression and SVM. Its comparative study is also pro-
posed. A survey of literature related to various techniques
used for detection of different type of cancer in patients is
discussed in Sect. 2. A summary of different classification
methods is discussed in Sect. 3. VEWOA and VEWOA-NN
are described in Sect. 4. In Sect. 5, results are depicted, and
finally, Sect. 6 describes the conclusion.
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471
2 Literature Review
Soft computing principles have led to important growth
in medical science [9–11]. Soft computing techniques are
gradually popular due to their distinctive capacity to extract
the hidden patterns [12]. Error is less likely to occur by neu-
ral networks. Neural networks are making medical system
dependent on them in order to find different patterns that
are present in datasets. Different models like Radial Basis
Functional Neural Network (RBFNN) [13], Adaptive Neuro-
Fuzzy Information System (ANFIS), Functional Link Artifi-
cial Neural Network (FLANN) [14] are broadly used in the
field of medical science and learning algorithms like recur-
sive least square (RLS) and least mean square (LMS) [15]
are used to update weights. Combination of neural networks
with fuzzy logic and wavelet transform forms hybrid models
which can be used to detect hidden patterns in a data [16].
But these techniques get trapped in neighborhood minima.
To overcome these methods, bio-enlivened strategies were
developed. These bio-enlivened strategies are mostly opti-
mizing techniques that are inspired by communal deeds of
creatures. They are also known as evolutionary optimizing
techniques because of their nature of incoming at a semi-
optimal solution that follows the process of natural evolu-
tion [17]. One of the most effective evolutionary algorithms
is the genetic algorithm [18]. In the field of biologically
inspired algorithm, swarm intelligence is another new prom-
ising method that is inspired by copying the social behav-
ior of fishes, ants and birds to search for their optimal food
source. One such optimization method is the particle swarm
optimization (PSO) that originates under swarm intelligence.
Its inspiration is from coordination and collection behav-
ior of birds [17]. PSO method is also applied with statis-
tical models. PSO can be used in identification of tumors
[19]. Differential evolution is an evolutionary optimization
algorithm, i.e., similar to genetic algorithm [20]. Harmony
search, one of the most effective bio-inspired algorithms,
is inspired by the behavior of musicians to get the ultimate
tune which can be used to solve complex problems [21,
22]. The nonlinear complex forecast and numerical pattern
identification problems are solved most effectively by func-
tional networks [23]. Stacked autoencoder model was used
on cervical cancer and attained the classification accuracy
of 97.25% which was proposed in [24]. Softmax classifica-
tion with stacked autoencoder is one of the deep learning
methods. The results are also compared with KNN, SVM,
and feedforward NN. A survey on machine learning methods
in detection and classification of cervical cancer for the last
15 years was presented in [25]. Thirty journals from differ-
ent databases, i.e., Google Scholar, Scopus, IEEE and sci-
ence direct, were reviewed, and the drawbacks of the papers
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471 2461

were also discussed. In [26], detection and characteristics p

∑ |Ni | ( )
of cervical cancer using different models of neural network Gain (N) = Entropy (N) −
|N|
Entropy Ni (1)
are briefly outlined and a comparative study with respect i=1

to the performance of different models has been given. In N = set of cases; p = number of partitions; |Ni | = number of
[27], pap smears which are performed 2 years prior to like- cases in the partition i; |N| = number of cases in N.
lihood of cervical cancer are discussed. False-negative pap Entropy formula is:
cytology causes fatal errors causing patients to be diagnosed
in advanced stages. They discussed the importance of such p
∑
tests. A detailed survey on positron emission tomography/ Entropy (N) = −ni log2 ni (2)
magnetic resonance imaging for detection of cervical cancer i=1

tissues is proposed in [28]. In [29], a technique to classify
the lung cancer while highlighting the importance of each
gene group from minority classes is presented. The proposed
method can identify more significant genes from the pool
of all genes adaptively. The anatomic extent of a cancer is
provided through stage classification. The eighth edition of
lung cancer stage classification is considered to be world-
wide standard as of January 2017 [30]. Lung cancers are
classified as malignant and benign and calculated the degree
of their malignancy with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)
spectroscopy [31]. The FTIR is also combined with principal
component analysis–linear discriminant analysis. In [32],
researchers provided a systematic literature review and ana-
lyzed the lung cancer data from International Association
for the study of lung cancer database. They also developed
proposals for revision involving multispecialty international
review. They discovered four patterns of the disease. In [33],
the correct and consistent regional lymph node classification
for early detection of lung cancer is provided. The effect
of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
(IASLC) lymph node map in lung cancer classification is
also discussed in detail.
3 Classification Algorithms
N = set of cases; p = number of partitions; ni = proportion of
Ni to N.
3.2 Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ)
LVQ is a special case of ANN which is a prototype-based
supervised classification algorithm. It is similar to KNN and
is developed by Kohonen [35]. When we are having labeled
input data then we can use Learning Vector Quantization.
It is supervised version of vector quantization method.
Classifier decision regions are improved when the learn-
ing method slightly reposition the Voronoi vectors by using
class information. Two stages are involved in this technique,
i.e., self-organizing map (SOM) followed by LVQ. This
method is used in pattern classification problems. The first
step involves feature selection, i.e., a small set of feature is
selected using unsupervised learning method that contains
concentrated input data. In the second step, classification is
done in which individual classes are assigned with feature
domains. LVQ algorithm starts from trained SOM having
{p} input and Voronoi weight {Vj}. Each Voronoi cell {Vj}
gets the best classification labels of input. A Voronoi cell
boundary does not match with classification boundaries.
This problem is solved with the help of LVQ by shifting of
boundaries:

3.1 C4.5 1. As in SOM algorithm, if the weight of winning output

node X(p) have same level of class, then they are moved
It is a statistical classifier algorithm which is an extension of together by:
Iterative Dichotomiser (ID3) algorithm that generates a deci-
sion tree evolved by Sudrajat et al. [34]. It is an algorithm ( )
ΔVX(p) = 𝛼(t) p − VX(p) (t) (3)
which involves decision tree by counting gain value. Here
the biggest node acts as root node. Steps of C4.5 algorithm 2. If Voronoi weight (Vj) and input p have different class
for building a decision tree are given as: label, then they are moved apart by
( )
1. The attribute with the largest gain value is selected as ΔVX(p) (t) = −𝛼(t) p − VX(p) (t) (4)
root node.
2. For each value, a branch is created. 3. Voronoi weights (Vj) are left unchanged that corre-
3. The process is repeated for each branch till in all cases sponds to other input regions
the branches have same class. ΔVj(t) = 0 (5)
𝛼(t) = learning rate decreasing with number of iterations
Gain search formula is:
of training

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In this manner, better classification is carried out than SOM Step-1 P ≤ 0
algorithm. (1  −  n) × N ≫ 0 points are generated randomly as
per n × N points using location approximation
3.3 Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA) method
Step-2 Promising points are selected
LDA can be used both as a dimensionality reduction as well Step-3 K t (𝜋xi b|𝜋yi b) , the conditional probabilities are
as a linear classifier. It is quite similar to principal compo- computed
nent analysis (PCA) classifier [36]. Step-4 A new population according to the given equation
In LDA, each of the class probability density function
is assumed to be model as normal density function. All the  ( )
l
K(b, P + 1) = 𝜋i=1 K t 𝜋xi b|𝜋yi b (10)
classes having normal density have same covariance. Let
there are ‘P’ classes. Let Np be a m × Tp matrix of Tp sam- is generated.
ples, as ‘m’ dimensional columns of data from class ‘p’. The Step-5 When termination criteria are met then FINISH
prior probabilities 𝜋p , the common covariance matrix ‘L’ and Step-6 The best points of previous generation are added to
means ‘ 𝜇p ’ for each class are defined as follows: the generation points (elitist)
Step-7 Then p ≤ p + 1
T Go to Step-3.
𝜋p = ∑p b (6)
i=1
Tb
FDA needs finite samples of points. Optimum conver-
gence of FDA depends on the size of samples. FDA can run
Np 1Tb by using any selection method, mostly truncation selection
𝜇p = (7) method is used.
Tb

∑p � T
��
T
�T
4 Proposed Algorithm
N − 𝜇 1 N − 𝜇 1
i=1 p p T b
p p T b (8)
L=
T −P Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is simple when
where 1t is a t × 1 matrix of 1’s. global solutions are explored and positions of search agents
After that a new data point n is classified as are updated. A new optimization algorithm, i.e., VEWOA
is proposed to improve the solution accuracy, reliability
1 of search and convergence speed of WOA. Before going
argp max nt 𝛴 −1 𝜇p − 𝜇pT 𝛴 −1 𝜇p (9)
2 through proposed algorithm, some of the features of WOA
It is used in pattern classification and machine learning are discussed for easy understanding of VEWOA method.
application as a preprocessing step. Goal of LDA is projec-
tion of a feature space/dataset into a lower subspace without 4.1 Overview of WOA
effecting the class discriminator information [37]. It is also
similar to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression WOA is a stochastic optimization algorithm which has taken
analysis. inspiration from the special bubble-net hunting behavior of
whales of humpback types [39]. Here, the population of
3.4 Factorized Distribution Algorithm (FDA) swarm is used to get the global optimum (global maximum
or minimum) for any kind of optimization problem, the
FDA is a type of evolutionary algorithm which uses distribu- search process starts by making a random solutions set and
tion in order to combine mutation and recombination [38]. upgrading set till the end condition is met.
Distribution is done with the set of selected points. Then, In order to hunt their prey, whales first create a helix-
these selected points are used for generation of new points structured path and then they follow the bubbles to locate the
for the next generation. A distribution with n binary vari- position of their prey. In WOA, this behavior is simulated by
ables has 2n parameters. FDA works for exact factorization alternating between spiral models and encircling mechanism
as well as for approximate factorization. Factorization can to update the position with 0.5 probabilities. The mechanism
also be used at the time of initialization of the local approxi- can be defined as follows:
mation method is given by:

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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471 2463

4.1.1 Shrinking Encircling Preys

In WOA, search agents update their current positions toward

the target prey which is currently giving the best candidate
solution. This can be shown [40].
Pt+1 = P∗t − B × D (11)

D = ||C × P∗t − Pt || (12)

B=2×B×r−B (13)

C = 2×r (14)
where P* = best position; Pt+1 = whale position; t = current
iteration; B = decreased linearly from 2 to 0 over the course
of iterations and r = uniformly distributed random number
Fig. 1  Shrinking encircling mechanism
within the range of [0, 1]. D corresponds to the distance
between tth whale and the best-positioned whale.

4.1.2 Spiral Bubble‑Net Feeding Maneuver

Equations (15) and (16) given are used between the position

of prey and whale to imitate the helix-structured movement
of whales as follows [41].
Pt+1 = ebl × cos (2𝜋l) × D� + P∗t (15)

D� = ||P∗t − Pt || (16)
where b = constant defining shape of the logarithmic spiral;
D′ = corresponds to the updated distance; l = uniformly dis-
tributed random number within the range of [− 1, 1].

4.1.3 Global Exploration

Fig. 2  Spiral update of position

The search agent current position is not updated based on
best search agent, rather on a random search agent. This
gives a factor of global exploration. This is done when value
of A is < − 1 or > 1:
Pt+1 = Prand − B × D��
D�� = ||C × Prand − Pt || (18)
where D″ corresponds to the updated distance. Prand is ran-
domly selected from whales in the current iteration [42].
4.2 Velocity‑Enhanced Whale Optimization
Algorithm (VEWOA)
When it comes to explore global solutions and update posi-
tions of search agents, WOA is relatively simple. In order
to improve reliability of search, the solution accuracy and
convergence speed of WOA, a new algorithm is proposed
namely VEWOA. Here, we consider whales as school of
fishes with their own velocity. This concept of velocity has
been taken from particle swarm optimization (PSO); here
each velocity directs the particle toward a potential better
global optimum. Thus, revealing new score of each particle
(17) in each iteration as they update their position based on the
global pest position.
( ) ( )
Vt+1 = w × Vt + c1 × r1 × Pbest − Pt + c2 × r2 Gbest − Pt
(19)
Pt+1 = Pt + Vt+1 (20)
where Vt+1 = velocity of particle t + 1; Pbest = personal best
of particle P; Gbest = global best; c1, c2 = constants such that
c1 + c2≤ 4; r1, r2 = random numbers; w = inertia coefficient.
The particles can also update their position according to
the spiral bubble-net feeding maneuver (Eqs. 15 and 16).
In this algorithm, we have assumed that the whales
update position 50% of time using Eq. (11) and in remaining
25% using Eq. (15) and left 25% for global random search
(Figs. 1, 2, 3).

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Pseudo code of VEWOA

"Population of Search Agents is initialized Pi (i = 1, 2, 3 , … n )

Fitness of every search agent is calculated
P* = best search agent
while (t < maximum number of iterations)
c1, c2, w is updated.
for each search agent
r1, r2 is updated
velocity of current search agent is updated using Eq. (19)
End for
for each search agent
parameters a, B are updated
if1 (p<0.5)
if2 (|B| < 1)
position of the current search agent by the Eq. (15) is updated
else if2 (|B|>=1)
a random search agent ( ) is selected
Position of the current search agent is updated by the Eq. (17)
end if2
elseif1 (p>=0.5)
The position of the current search by the Eq. (11) is updated
end if1
end for
if any search agent goes beyond the search space, retract its position
The fitness of each search agent is calculated
personal best of each agent is updated
If there is a better solution P* is updated.
t=t+1
end while
return P* "

4.3 VEWOA‑Trained ANN

Our proposed approach is discussed in this section. Our neu-

ral network contains one hidden layer in addition to the ini-
tial connection of weights and bias between the input layer
and hidden layer. The no. of search agents is taken as 25.
Each search agent is treated as a one-dimensional vector
having three components.

(i) Weights which are assigned between information

layer and hidden layer.
(ii) Weights which are assigned between hidden layer and
output layer.
(iii) Biases

Fig. 3  Velocity updation After each search, agent has associated weight and bias; it is
then proceeded to find the optimal solution.
The VEWOA-trained NN can be summarized as follows:

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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471 2465

(i) Initialize: in this step, each agent is assigned the ran-
dom set of weights and bias.
(ii) Evaluate fitness: in this step, the optimal set of
weights and biases is generated according to the
minimized mean-squared error (MSE), which can
also be treated as fitness function.
(iii) Update position: the position of the whales is updated
accordingly.
with at first, the data are preprocessed. After the preprocess-
ing step is over, the missing values are all replaced with the
instance mean, and all the inputs are normalized through
min–max normalization. The formulae for min–max nor-
malization can be summarized as follows:
Xorig − Xmin
Xnorm = (21)
Xmax − Xmin

Our proposed technique VEWOA-NN has been compared

Steps (ii) and (iii) are repeated until the stopping criteria
are achieved.
The workflow model is depicted in Fig. 4 in the form of
a flowchart. Summary of the work in flow chart format is
given at Fig. 5.
with many other classifiers, and the superiority of the former
can be shown based on the following performance criterions.
(i) Correct Classification Rate (CCR)
 
n
CCR = .
N (22)

5 Results and Discussion where ‘n’ is the no. of accurately grouped patterns

  ‘N’ is the total no. of patterns.
5.1 Implementation Details (ii) Average Squared Classification Error (ASCE)

The optimization techniques aim to reduce the error in the ∑n � �2

ck − nk
objective function. In this case, VEWOA-NN is applied as ASCE = i=1 (23)
N
the optimization algorithm to the neural network. To begin

Fig. 4  Workflow model of
Initialize
VEWOA populations of
Training Dataset search agents

Calculate fitness
Assign search of each search
agents to agent
network

Evaluate Update position of

Network using search agents
Error

NO

Termination
Update POS* if
condition
their is a best
met?
solution
YES

Return the network

with minimum error

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START
Dataset is loaded
Attributes and features
are identified
Data processing is
performed
Processe d Data is fe e d to
VEWOANN
Classification results are compared and
classification accuracy is calculated
C4.5,LVQ,FDA and VEWOA-NN are
calculated
Confusion matrix is
developed.
STOP
Fig. 5  Workflow model of overall network
  ck = number of observations in class k
  nk = number of appropriately classified observa-
tions in class k.
(iii) Computational cost: it is the time taken to evaluate
the classifier.
We have conducted the experiment in 30 runs each con-
taining 100 iterations. The computational cost is obtained
by simulating each algorithm in the same machine for the
same no. of iterations. The output can be one of the two,
i.e., either 0 (benign tumor) or 1(malignant tumor). The
results are summarized by computing the mean and respec-
tive standard deviation. In addition, the graphs are shown to
analyze results more clearly. Graphs help in better under-
standing of the results and presenting a comparison. We
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471
have provided the graphs for error convergence as well as
weight convergence in each iteration for better understand-
ing. The techniques which converge fast are considered to
be the efficient one.
5.2 Details of Dataset
In this paper, we have used three different datasets to claim
the superiority of VEWOA-NN.
(a) The dataset of Wisconsin Breast Cancer is available in
database at [43]. The database contains nine param-
eters. For the classification, we consider all nine param-
eters and also divide the data set into 70:30 ratios for
training and testing. The attributes of the dataset are as
follows:
1. Clump thickness: 1–10
2. Uniformity of cell size: 1–10
3. Uniformity of cell shape: 1–10
4. Marginal adhesion: 1–10
5. Single epithelial cell size: 1–10
6. Bare nuclei: 1–10
7. Bland chromatin: 1–10
8. Normal nucleoli: 1–10
9. Mitoses: 1–10
(b) The cervical cancer dataset has been collected from
‘Hospital Universitario De Caracas’ in Caracas, Ven-
zuela. It is available at [44]. It has 858 no. of instances
and 36 attributes.
(c) The lung cancer data were published in [45]. The donor
of this dataset is Aeberhard [46]. The no. of instances
is 32 and no. of attributes is 57.
5.3 Result Analysis
In Tables 1, 2 and 3, validation results of WBC data, cervical
cancer and lung cancer are shown. Different classification
algorithms are compared on the basis of no. of parameters
for training, time taken for calculating mean and standard
deviation, CCR of mean and standard deviation, ASCE of
mean and standard deviation. Algorithms such as C4.5,
FDA, LDA and LVQ consume much more time as com-
pared to other methods. The proposed method VEWOA-NN
provides optimum value of CCR, minimum value of ASCE
and less time-consuming being the best one of all.
Tables 4, 5 and 6 depict the confusion matrices for the
above-mentioned data. In WBC data (Table 4), the benign
data as predicted by the classifier became 448 while the
malignant ones came to 6, thereby resulting in a classifica-
tion accuracy of 97.8 in case of benign and 97.5 for malig-
nant ones. In cervical cancer (Table 5), the benign data
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2020) 45:2459–2471 2467

Table 1  WBC data: quantitative assessment

Classification model No. of parameters Time in sec- Time in sec- CCR (Mean) CCR (SD) ASCE (Mean) ASCE (SD)
onds (Mean) onds (SD)

C4.5 9.000 7.542 0.561 0.894 0.210 0.561 0.312

FDA 9.000 5.231 0.342 0.923 0.101 0.412 0.210
LDA 9.000 4.426 0.241 0.784 0.211 0.312 0.330
LVQ 9.000 2.315 0.432 0.793 0.031 0.204 0.120
WOA-NN 9.000 1.416 1.321 0.929 0.210 0.106 0.131
‘VEWOA-NN’ 9.000 0.667 0.312 0.976 0.005 0.169 0.016

The best result of each column is indicated in bold

Table 2  Cervical cancer data: quantitative assessment

Classification model No. of parameters Time in sec- Time in sec- CCR (Mean) CCR (SD) ASCE (Mean) ASCE (SD)
onds (Mean) onds (SD)

C4.5 4.000 4.412 0.426 0.542 0.021 0.623 0.262

LDA 4.000 3.320 0.531 0.618 0.034 0.516 0.243
FDA 4.000 2.211 0.125 0.723 0.014 0.612 0.510
LVQ 4.000 1.121 0.231 0.816 0.102 0.348 0.427
WOA-NN 4.000 0.76 0.213 0.891 0.097 0.145 0.049
‘VEWOA-NN’ 4.000 0.27 0.331 0.946 0.004 0.121 0.024

The best result of each column is indicated in bold

Table 3  Lung cancer data: quantitative assessment

Classification model No. of parameters Time in sec- Time in sec- CCR (Mean) CCR (SD) ASCE (Mean) ASCE (SD)
onds (Mean) onds (SD)

C4.5 31.000 5.623 0.351 0.822 0.051 0.201 0.142

LDA 31.000 4.241 0.420 0.768 0.036 0.302 0.173
FDA 31.000 1.623 0.361 0.818 0.060 0.601 0.428
LVQ 31.000 1.421 0.142 0.806 0.701 0.207 0.650
WOA-NN 31.000 0.762 0.198 0.812 0.841 0.198 0.110
‘VEWOA-NN’ 31.000 0.281 0.413 0.845 0.902 0.115 0.031

The best result of each column is indicated in bold

Table 4  The confusion matrix obtained from VEWOA-trained NN in Table 5  The confusion matrix obtained from VEWOA-trained NN in
WBC cervical cancer

CLASS ‘BENIGN’ ‘MALIG- % Classification CLASS ‘BENIGN’ ‘MALIG- % Classification

NANT’ NANT’

‘BENIGN’ 448 10 97.8 ‘BENIGN’ 790 13 98.3

‘MALIGNANT’ 6 235 97.5 ‘MALIGNANT’ 5 50 90.9

found out to be 790 as opposed to 5 in malignant causing the Table 6  The confusion matrix obtained from VEWOA-trained NN in
classification accuracy to rise up to 98.3 and 90.9 for benign lung cancer
and malignant tumors, respectively. In lung cancer (Table 6), CLASS Type-1 Type-2 Type-3 % Classification
the type-I and type-II classification accuracy found out to
be 88.89 and 84.6 while type-III classification accuracy is Type-1 8 1 0 88.89
80. The classification accuracy of VEWOA-NN is compared Type-2 1 11 1 84.6
with other classification techniques in Tables 7, 8 and 9. Type-3 1 1 8 80

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Table 7  Classification accuracy Algorithm Results in %

of WBC dataset
‘C4.5’ 89.4
‘LVQ’ 92.3
‘FDA’ 78.4
‘LDA’ 79.3
WOA-NN 92.9
‘VEWOA-NN’ 97.65

Table 8  Classification accuracy Algorithm Results in %

of cervical cancer dataset
‘C4.5’ 54.2
Fig. 6  Convergence of weight using VEWOA-NN in WBC breast
‘LVQ’ 61.8 cancer data
‘FDA’ 72.3
‘LDA’ 81.6
WOA-NN 89.1
‘VEWOA-NN’ 94.6

Table 9  Classification accuracy Algorithm Results in %

of lung cancer dataset
‘C4.5’ 82.2
‘LVQ’ 76.8
‘FDA’ 81.8
‘LDA’ 80.6
WOA-NN 81.2
‘VEWOA-NN’ 84.5

The accuracy of C4.5 found out to be 89.4, 54.2 and 82.2,

respectively, in all the three datasets. The accuracy improved Fig. 7  Convergence of weight using VEWOA-NN in cervical cancer
data
in case of LVQ rising up to 92.3, 61.8 and 76.8 in case of
breast cancer, cervical cancer and lung cancer. The accuracy
of FDA found out to be 78.4, 72.3 and 81.8, respectively,
in all the three datasets. The accuracy of LDA found out to
be 79.3, 81.6 and 80.6, respectively, in all the three data-
sets. The accuracy of VEWOA-NN is 97.65, 94.6 and 84.5,
respectively, in three datasets. In addition, to these tables,
we summarize the results in graphs. Figures 6, 7 and 8 depict
the convergence of weights in breast cancer data, cervical
cancer data and lung cancer data, respectively. Figures 9,
10 and 11 show the bar graph plot on mean CCR versus
standard deviation CCR in breast cancer, cervical cancer
and lung cancer. CCR (mean) in the x-axis and CCR (SD)
in the y-axis are plotted. In Figs. 12, 13 and 14, the mean-
squared error convergence is shown for cervical cancer and
lung cancer. The MSE obtained is the best obtained from
running all the iterations. From the tables and graphs, it is
evident that VEWOA-NN is dominating the other techniques Fig. 8  Convergence of weight using VEWOA-NN in lung cancer data
in the same dataset.

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Fig. 9  Mean CCR versus standard deviation CCR In breast cancer

1 Fig. 13  Convergence of MSE curve in cervical cancer

0.8

0.6
CCR (Mean)
0.4 CCR (SD)
0.2

0
1 2 3 4 5 6

Fig. 10  Mean CCR versus standard deviation CCR In cervical cancer

0.8
Fig. 14  Convergence of MSE curve in lung cancer
0.6
CCR (Mean)
0.4 CCR (SD)
6 Conclusion
0.2

0 One of the leading causes of death is cancer. Even though we

1 2 3 4 5 6
have applied highly advanced techniques and took the help
of many experienced radiologists, early detection is still a
Fig. 11  Mean CCR versus standard deviation CCR in lung cancer farfetched dream. Cancer diagnosis and treatment programs
strive to prolong a patient’s life in the best possible way.
The proposed method contributes to early detection, thereby
assisting the medical institutes. An undetected tumor can
prove to be lethal. Therefore, early detection is given the
highest priority. In this article, we have proposed a clas-
sification technique to detect malignant tumors. The clas-
sification accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 97.65 in
breast cancer, 94.6 in cervical cancer and 84 in lung cancer.
Further research work is required to increase the accuracy
and decrease the time which hopefully can be achieved by
manipulating the hidden layer nodes, applying some hybrid
techniques, etc.

Fig. 12  Convergence of MSE curve in breast cancer

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