GFLASSO-LR: Logistic Regression with Generalized Fused LASSO for Gene Selection in High-Dimensional Cancer Classification

Abstract

Advancements in genomic technologies have paved the way for significant breakthroughs in cancer diagnostics, with DNA microarray technology standing at the forefront of identifying genetic expressions associated with various cancer types. Despite its potential, the vast dimensionality of microarray data presents a formidable challenge, necessitating efficient dimension reduction and gene selection methods to accurately identify cancerous tumors. In response to this challenge, this study introduces an innovative strategy for microarray data dimension reduction and crucial gene set selection, aiming to enhance the accuracy of cancerous tumor identification. Leveraging DNA microarray technology, our method focuses on pinpointing significant genes implicated in tumor development, aiding the development of sophisticated computerized diagnostic tools. Our technique synergizes gene selection with classifier training within a logistic regression framework, utilizing a generalized Fused LASSO (GFLASSO-LR) regularizer. This regularization incorporates two penalties: one for selecting pertinent genes and another for emphasizing adjacent genes of importance to the target class, thus achieving an optimal trade-off between gene relevance and redundancy. The optimization challenge posed by our approach is tackled using a sub-gradient algorithm, designed to meet specific convergence prerequisites. We establish that our algorithm’s objective function is convex, Lipschitz continuous, and possesses a global minimum, ensuring reliability in the gene selection process. A numerical evaluation of the method’s parameters further substantiates its effectiveness. Experimental outcomes affirm the GFLASSO-LR methodology’s high efficiency in processing high-dimensional microarray data for cancer classification. It effectively identifies compact gene subsets, significantly enhancing classification performance and demonstrating its potential as a powerful tool in cancer research and diagnostics.