Deep Neural Network Models for Colon Cancer Screening

Simple Summary Deep learning models have been shown to achieve high performance in diagnosing colon cancer compared to conventional image processing and hand-crafted machine learning methods. Hence, several studies have focused on developing hybrid learning, end-to-end, and transfer learning techniques to reduce manual interaction and for labelling the regions of interest. However, these weak learning techniques do not always provide a clear diagnosis. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a clear explainable learning method that can highlight factors and form the basis of clinical decisions. However, there has been little research carried out employing such transparent approaches. This study discussed the aforementioned models for colon cancer diagnosis. Early detection of colorectal cancer can significantly facilitate clinicians' decision-making and reduce their workload. This can be achieved using automatic systems with endoscopic and histological images. Recently, the success of deep learning has motivated the development of image- and video-based polyp identification and segmentation. Currently, most diagnostic colonoscopy rooms utilize artificial intelligence methods that are considered to perform well in predicting invasive cancer. Convolutional neural network-based architectures, together with image patches and preprocesses are often widely used. Furthermore, learning transfer and end-to-end learning techniques have been adopted for detection and localization tasks, which improve accuracy and reduce user dependence with limited datasets. However, explainable deep networks that provide transparency, interpretability, reliability, and fairness in clinical diagnostics are preferred. In this review, we summarize the latest advances in such models, with or without transparency, for the prediction of colorectal cancer and also address the knowledge gap in the upcoming technology.

Automated summary

Deep learning models have shown superior performance in diagnosing colon cancer compared to traditional image processing and hand-crafted machine learning methods. However, there is limited research on using transparent approaches for colon cancer diagnosis. This study summarizes the latest models and discusses the knowledge gap in upcoming technology.