Machine learning predicts treatment sensitivity in multiple myeloma based on molecular and clinical information coupled with drug response

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 28;16(7):e0254596. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254596. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Providing treatment sensitivity stratification at the time of cancer diagnosis allows better allocation of patients to alternative treatment options. Despite many clinical and biological risk markers having been associated with variable survival in cancer, assessing the interplay of these markers through Machine Learning (ML) algorithms still remains to be fully explored. Here, we present a Multi Learning Training approach (MuLT) combining supervised, unsupervised and self-supervised learning algorithms, to examine the predictive value of heterogeneous treatment outcomes for Multiple Myeloma (MM). We show that gene expression values improve the treatment sensitivity prediction and recapitulates genetic abnormalities detected by Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing. MuLT performance was assessed by cross-validation experiments, in which it predicted treatment sensitivity with 68.70% of AUC. Finally, simulations showed numerical evidences that in average 17.07% of patients could get better response to a different treatment at the first line.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Area Under Curve
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Machine Learning*
  • Multiple Myeloma / drug therapy*
  • Multiple Myeloma / genetics
  • Multiple Myeloma / mortality
  • ROC Curve
  • Survival Rate
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents

Grants and funding

LVP thanks the financial support by A.C. Camargo Cancer Center (research grant no. ACCCC-ITA-LVP:201803). CHCR thanks the financial support by CNPq (research grant no. 303093/2016-1). ITS thanks the financial support by FAPESP (research grant no. 15/19324-6). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.