A Comparative Study of Transfer Learning-Based Deep Learning Models for Breast Cancer Detection

Year : 2026 | Volume : 15 | Issue : 01 | Page : 24 34
    By

    Md Sahiqur Rahman,

  • Sabikunnahar Swarna,

  • Prosenjit Mojumder,

  • Shahadat Hossain,

  1. Researcher, Computer Science & Information, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, University of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan
  2. Researcher, Computer Science & Information, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, University of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan
  3. Researcher, Computer Science & Information, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, University of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan
  4. Researcher, Computer Science & Information, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, University of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

Breast cancer is a major concern in the world today, and early and accurate diagnosis is most crucial in the case of breast cancer, as it is among the disorders where the total cost of loss of life is high. Traditional screening processes are subjective and vulnerable to inter-observer reliability issues and diagnostic errors, being primarily based on manual interpretation of medical images. To address these limitations, Deep Learning (DL) is now a leading approach for medical image analysis. However, training deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) from scratch remains a significant drawback due to the small sizes of labeled medical datasets. This paper gives an in-depth comparison of five state-of-the-art Transfer Learning (TL) models, which comprise VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, DenseNet121, and MobileNet models, and apply them to undertake automated classification of breast cancer. Optimization of models was performed on the publicly available dataset, and more demanding data augmentation procedures were employed to lower overfitting levels and enhance generalization characteristics. Several measures of accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and computational complexity were used to measure performance. According to experimental results, DenseNet121 achieved a higher overall testing accuracy of 98.85% and an F1-score of 98.40, owing to effective feature propagation. MobileNet, on its part, showed outstanding computational powers and an accuracy of 94.50%, which means that it is feasible in resource-constrained mobile health activities. This paper proves that transfer learning is the most effective method to maximize the diagnosis accuracy and reduce the computation costs incurred to generate a highly formidable Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) structure to directly help radiologists make important clinical decisions.

Keywords: Breast Cancer Detection, Transfer Learning, Deep Learning, DenseNet121, ResNet50, Medical Image Analysis, Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD)

[This article belongs to Research and Reviews : A Journal of Medical Science and Technology ]

How to cite this article:
Md Sahiqur Rahman, Sabikunnahar Swarna, Prosenjit Mojumder, Shahadat Hossain. A Comparative Study of Transfer Learning-Based Deep Learning Models for Breast Cancer Detection. Research and Reviews : A Journal of Medical Science and Technology. 2026; 15(01):24-34.
How to cite this URL:
Md Sahiqur Rahman, Sabikunnahar Swarna, Prosenjit Mojumder, Shahadat Hossain. A Comparative Study of Transfer Learning-Based Deep Learning Models for Breast Cancer Detection. Research and Reviews : A Journal of Medical Science and Technology. 2026; 15(01):24-34. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/rrjomst/article=2026/view=236900


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Regular Issue Subscription Review Article
Volume 15
Issue 01
Received 13/02/2026
Accepted 16/02/2026
Published 21/02/2026
Publication Time 8 Days
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