Datasets:
license: cc-by-4.0
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
language:
- en
tags:
- medical
- breast-cancer
- african-physiognomy
- healthcare-bias
- representation-bias
- oncology
size_categories:
- n<1K
Breast Cancer Wisconsin Dataset: African Physiognomy Adjusted
Dataset Description
This dataset addresses representation bias in medical AI by providing an African physiognomy-adjusted version of the classic Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset. The adjustment methodology systematically modifies cellular morphology features to better reflect documented physiological differences in African populations.
Dataset Summary
- Original Dataset: Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset (569 samples)
- Adjusted Dataset: African physiognomy-adjusted version (569 samples)
- Features: 30 morphological features from Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA) samples
- Classes: Malignant (M) and Benign (B)
- Adjustment Focus: 212 malignant cases modified based on African physiognomy patterns
Key Adjustments Applied
- Higher Breast Density: 5-8% increase in radius, area, and texture features
- Enhanced Irregularity: 12-19% increase in concavity, concave points, and fractal dimension
- Reduced Boundary Smoothness: 10-12% decrease in smoothness and symmetry features
Dataset Structure
breast_cancer_original.csv # Original Wisconsin dataset
breast_cancer_african_adjusted.csv # African physiognomy-adjusted dataset
Features
Each dataset contains 32 columns:
id: Sample identifierdiagnosis: M (Malignant) or B (Benign)- 30 morphological features organized as:
- Size/Density: radius, area, perimeter (mean, se, worst)
- Texture: texture variability (mean, se, worst)
- Irregularity: concavity, concave points, fractal dimension (mean, se, worst)
- Boundary: smoothness, symmetry (mean, se, worst)
- Compactness: compactness (mean, se, worst)
Usage
Loading the Dataset
from datasets import load_dataset
# Load original Wisconsin version
original_dataset = load_dataset("electricsheepafrica/breast-cancer-african-adjusted", "wisconsin_breast_cancer_dataset")
# Access the data
original_dataset = original_dataset['train'] # Original Wisconsin dataset
Example Usage
import pandas as pd
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier
# Load the adjusted dataset
df = pd.read_csv("breast_cancer_african_adjusted.csv")
# Prepare features and target
X = df.drop(['id', 'diagnosis'], axis=1)
y = df['diagnosis']
# Train-test split
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size=0.2, random_state=42)
# Train model
model = RandomForestClassifier(random_state=42)
model.fit(X_train, y_train)
# Evaluate
accuracy = model.score(X_test, y_test)
print(f"Accuracy: {accuracy:.3f}")
Methodology
Physiognomy-Based Adjustments
The adjustment methodology is based on documented physiological differences in African populations:
- Higher Breast Density: African women demonstrate significantly higher mammographic breast density
- Younger Onset: Breast cancer incidence peaks in the 40s vs 60s in Caucasian populations
- Aggressive Subtypes: 20-40% triple-negative breast cancer rate vs 10-15% in Caucasian populations
- Genetic Variants: Higher prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations affecting cellular morphology
Statistical Approach
- Adjustments applied exclusively to malignant cases (n=212)
- Random multipliers drawn from normal distributions
- Literature-informed scaling factors with biological variation
- Maintained feature correlations and statistical validity
Validation and Limitations
Validation Framework
- Internal Validation: Statistical consistency and biological plausibility maintained
- External Validation Required: Clinical validation through prospective studies in African healthcare settings
Limitations
- Synthetic adjustments based on literature review, not direct measurement
- Limited to morphological features (excludes genetic/molecular markers)
- Single adjustment model may not capture full population diversity
- Requires validation against real African datasets
Ethical Considerations
- Risk of perpetuating stereotypes if not properly validated
- Importance of community engagement in African healthcare settings
- Need for local data ownership and governance
- Interim solution while working toward comprehensive data collection
Citation
If you use this dataset, please cite:
@misc{udodi2025breast,
title={Addressing Representation Bias in Breast Cancer Datasets: A Physiognomy-Informed Approach for African Populations},
author={Kossiso Udodi Royce},
year={2025},
publisher={Electric Sheep Africa},
url={https://huggingface.co/datasets/ElectricSheepAfrica/breast-cancer-african-adjusted}
}
Original Dataset Citation
@misc{street1993nuclear,
title={Nuclear feature extraction for breast tumor diagnosis},
author={Street, W Nick and Wolberg, William H and Mangasarian, Olvi L},
booktitle={IS\&T/SPIE International Symposium on Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology},
volume={1905},
pages={861--870},
year={1993}
}
License
This dataset is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Contact
For questions or collaborations:
- Author: Kossiso Udodi Royce | kossi@electricsheep.africa
- Organization: Electric Sheep Africa
- Year: 2025
Acknowledgments
- Original Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset creators
Disclaimer: This synthetic dataset is intended for research purposes to highlight representation bias in medical AI. Clinical validation through prospective studies in African healthcare settings is essential before any clinical application.