Features Importance in Classification Models for Colorectal Cancer Cases Phenotype in Indonesia

Recently there has been an interest in predicting complex disease risk using models that combine the effects of many genetic factors together. These are known as polygenic models and are useful in evaluating risk of disease in patients. These models, however, often do not include important non-genetic factors that are important to the prediction of the disease. In this paper, we explore the prediction of colorectal cancer in Indonesia from non-genetic factors using common machine learning algorithms: XGBoost and Elastic Net. The result of this study identified 8 features with strong importance from both XGBoost and Elastic Net. We recommend including these features as covariates in future genetic association studies of colorectal cancer in Indonesia. Ultimately these models may be implemented as tools to screen patients for colorectal cancer risk.