K Jagadeesh1 
,
P Sivaprakash2,
B Shuriya3,
S Thenmozhi4
For correspondence:- K Jagadeesh Email: jagadeeshjpsmk@gmail.com
Received: 15 August 2025 Accepted: 20 February 2026 Published: 05 March 2026
Citation: Jagadeesh K, Sivaprakash P, Shuriya B, Thenmozhi S. Volumetric T-stage classification and segmentation of lung cancer with deep learning and machine learning in CT images: A 3D U-net-radiomics hybrid framework. Trop J Pharm Res 2026; 25(2):255-267 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v25i2.14
© 2026 The authors.
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Purpose: To develop a 3D U-Net-Radiomics hybrid architecture of automated lung cancer segmentation and T-stage classification based on chest CT images. Method: The 3D U-Net achieves high-fidelity voxel-level cancer segmentation, i.e., voxel-level volumetric mask, and radiomics features, such as shape, intensity, and texture features, are produced on the segmented regions. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier was used to determine the cancer stages (T1-T4) by these features. Results: The framework trained on the LIDC-IDRI dataset (1,018 cases) with a train/validation/test split of 70/10/20 indicates that the framework is more accurate in segmentation (97.4 %), has a Dice similarity score of 0.94, and is more accurate in T-stage classification (94.8 %), compared to baseline 2D CNN and handcrafted feature-based methods. The stability of the extracted radiomics descriptors was confirmed, and their reliability and reproducibility were validated using feature stability analysis. Conclusion: The findings suggest that volumetric deep learning with radiomics is a high-performing and clinically interpretable solution to the automated staging of lung cancer, which helps in making better diagnostic and treatment decisions.
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