CancerSeg-XA: Medical Histopathology Segmentation System Based on Xception Backbone and Attention Mechanisms

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19139/soic-2310-5070-3023
Keywords: Deep learning, cancer segmentation, Histopathological images, DeepLabV3, Xception backbone, Attention mechanism, BCSS, PanNuke, PUMA

Abstract

Accurate segmentation of histopathological images is essential to support early diagnosis and effective treatment planning in cancer care. This study presents CancerSeg-XA, a deep learning-based histopathology segmentation system designed to deliver robust performance across diverse tissue types and imaging sources. Built upon the DeepLabV3+ framework, CancerSeg-XA incorporates architectural enhancements to strengthen feature representation and improve model stability. The system was evaluated on three widely recognized datasets—BCSS, PanNuke, and PUMA—each presenting distinct structural and clinical challenges. Across all datasets, CancerSeg-XA consistently outperformed the baseline DeepLabV3+ in terms of segmentation accuracy, recall, and F1-score. Specifically, it achieved accuracy improvements of 4.78%, 4.31%, and 3.22% on BCSS, PanNuke, and PUMA, respectively, along with substantial gains in FwIoU. These results highlight the model’s ability to generalize effectively across varied histopathological contexts, positioning CancerSeg-XA as a promising solution for clinical integration and future research in digital pathology.

Author Biographies

Alaa Youssef, Faculty of Computers & Artificial Intelligence, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
Alaa Mohamed Youssef is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at Helwan University. She holds both a B.S. degree and an M.S. degree in Computer Science. Her research journey has been marked by an exciting focus on object detection in images, a field where she has made significant contributions. As she progresses in her academic career, she is now keen to deepen her expertise in machine learning and explore emerging fields of medical image analysis.
Aliaa Youssif, ollege of Computing and Information Technology Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Cairo, Egypt
Aliaa Abdel-Haleim Abdel-Razik Youssif: She is currently a professor at the College of Computing and Information Technology, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport (AAST), Cairo, Egypt. She received her BSc and MSc degrees in telecommunications and electronics engineering from the Helwan University. She also completed her Ph.D. at Helwan University. She had a postdoctoral degree at George Washington University, USA in 2005. In addition, she was a visiting professor at many universities, such as Cardiff University in the United Kingdom (2008), International Telematic University in Italy (2012), Masaryk University, Czech Republic (2016), Oviedo University, Spain (2017), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania (2018), and Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK (2020).
Wessam El Behaidy, Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence, Helwan University, Egypt, and the Faculty of Informatics and Computer Science, British University in Egypt (BUE), El-Sherouk, Egypt
Wessam Hassan El Behadidy: She earned her honors bachelor’s degree and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Computer Science from Helwan University (Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence), Cairo, Egypt. Her M.Sc. Her work was on employing AI and machine learning techniques to recognize persons from their voices, and her work was published at one powerful conference: the National Radio Science Conference (NRSC). She completed her Ph.D. in 2012 in Computer Science from Helwan University (Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence), Cairo, Egypt. Her goal was to analyze one of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins, especially genotype 4A, which is common in Egypt, and to predict its three-dimensional structure, specifically the active areas on its surface. Four publications were published in international journals and conferences outside their work.  She is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science as well as the vice dean for Community and Environmental Affairs at the faculty, and Associate Professor, Faculty of Informatics and Computer Science, British University in Egypt (BUE), El-Sherouk, Egypt. Her research interests include medical image analysis, protein structure prediction, pattern recognition, and computer vision.
Published
2025-12-03
How to Cite
Youssef, A., Youssif, A., & El Behaidy, W. (2025). CancerSeg-XA: Medical Histopathology Segmentation System Based on Xception Backbone and Attention Mechanisms. Statistics, Optimization & Information Computing. https://doi.org/10.19139/soic-2310-5070-3023
Issue
Online First
Section
Research Articles
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