A vision transformer-based framework for knowledge transfer from multi-modal to mono-modal lymphoma subtyping models

Determining lymphoma subtypes is a crucial step for better patients treatment targeting to potentially increase their survival chances. In this context, the existing gold standard diagnosis method, which is based on gene expression technology, is highly expensive and time-consuming making difficult its accessibility. Although alternative diagnosis methods based on IHC (immunohistochemistry) technologies exist (recommended by the WHO), they still suffer from similar limitations and are less accurate. WSI (Whole Slide Image) analysis by deep learning models showed promising new directions for cancer diagnosis that would be cheaper and faster than existing alternative methods. In this work, we propose a vision transformer-based framework for distinguishing DLBCL (Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma) cancer subtypes from high-resolution WSIs. To this end, we propose a multi-modal architecture to train a classifier model from various WSI modalities. We then exploit this model through a knowledge distillation mechanism for efficiently driving the learning of a mono-modal classifier. Our experimental study conducted on a dataset of 157 patients shows the promising performance of our mono-modal classification model, outperforming six recent methods from the state-of-the-art dedicated for cancer classification. Moreover, the power-law curve, estimated on our experimental data, shows that our classification model requires a reasonable number of additional patients for its training to potentially reach identical diagnosis accuracy as IHC technologies.