Clinical and Medical Engineering Live
ISSN: 2997-612X | DOI: 10.64030/2997-612X
Noor AlGailani and Oke Oluwafemi Ayotunde
Breast cancer is among the most prevalent cancer and poses difficult challenges facing patients and doctors after initial treatment. This study looks at how common clinical factors—like tumor size, number of affected lymph nodes, menopause status, and radiation therapy—might influence the chances of cancer returning. We used a cleaned version of the UCI Breast Cancer dataset, which includes records for 286 patients. To make the data easier to analyze, we converted categorical ranges (such as tumor size and lymph nodes) into numeric midpoints, and handled missing values in key columns like node-caps. The study focused on three questions: (1) How are tumor size and lymph node involvement linked to recurrence? (2) Does menopause status and the presence of node caps affect recurrence risk? (3) Can radiation therapy reduce this risk in more severe cases? The results showed that lymph node involvement was more strongly related to recurrence than tumor size. Premenopausal women with node caps had the highest recurrence rate. Radiation therapy, while often used for serious cases, did not always reduce the risk, especially when tumors were large and more lymph nodes were involved. These findings show how simple, structured clinical data can help identify high-risk patients early. This can support better treatment planning, especially in healthcare settings with limited resources. Future research should include time-based and molecular data to develop more precise and tailored prediction models.