Optimized deep learning approach for lung cancer detection using flying fox optimization and bidirectional generative adversarial networks

Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and life-threatening diseases, often diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the challenges in early detection. Contributory factors include genetic mutations, smoking, alcohol consumption, and exposure to hazardous environmental conditions. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have significantly improved early cancer detection, but limitations such as high-dimensional feature sets and overfitting issues persist. This study presents an optimised deep learning approach for lung cancer classification, integrating flying fox optimization (FFXO) for feature selection and bidirectional generative adversarial networks (Bi-GAN) for classification. The methodology consists of three key phases: (1) Data preprocessing, where missing values are handled using the multiple imputations by chain equation (MICE) technique and feature scaling is applied using standard and min-max scalers; (2) Feature selection, where the FFXO algorithm reduces feature dimensionality to enhance classification efficiency; and (3) Lung tumor classification, utilizing Bi-GAN to improve predictive accuracy. The proposed system was evaluated using key performance metrics—accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score—and demonstrated superior performance to conventional models. Experimental results on a publicly available lung cancer dataset showed an accuracy of 98.7% highlighting the approach’s robustness in precise lung tumor classification. This study provides a novel framework for improving the reliability and efficiency of lung cancer detection, offering significant potential for clinical applications.