Cancers, Vol. 18, Pages 704: A Treatment Decision Model for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Based on Bayesian Networks

Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers18040704

Authors:
Eenas Ghura
Jan Gaebel
Thomas Neumuth
Andreas Dietz
Gunnar Wichmann
Matthaeus Stoehr

Background: One of the most prevalent non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) is cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), which is typically treated surgically. For patients with advanced or inoperable disease, systemic therapies—particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors—have become increasingly important. The anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody Cemiplimab was approved for the treatment of advanced cSCC, providing patients who are unable to receive conventional therapy with additional options. Methods: In this study, we developed a clinical decision support tool based on Bayesian networks (BNs) to help clinicians choose the most suitable treatment strategies for cSCC. The model can manage missing or uncertain data and includes patient-specific clinical, histological, and genetic information, such as tumor type, stage, and PD-L1 expression. Results: Using data from 66 patients with either basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or cSCC, we retrospectively validated the model by comparing the treatment recommendations from the tool with the actual choices made by multidisciplinary tumor boards. The model demonstrated an overall accuracy of 95.5% and statistical significance with a p-value of <0.001. Conclusions: Our results suggest that BNs are a valuable tool for representing complex clinical decision-making processes.

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Eenas Ghura www.mdpi.com