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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1516848
This article is part of the Research Topic Studying the immune microenvironment of liver cancer using artificial intelligence View all 9 articles

Preoperative Assessment of liver regeneration using T1 mapping and the Functional Liver Imaging Score Derived from Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance for patient with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

Provisionally accepted
Qian Li Qian Li 1Tong Zhang Tong Zhang 1Shan Yao Shan Yao 1Feifei Gao Feifei Gao 1Lisha Nie Lisha Nie 2Hehan Tang Hehan Tang 1Yi Wei Yi Wei 1Bin Song Bin Song 1*
  • 1 Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
  • 2 MRI Research, GE Healthcare (China), Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: To explore whether T1 mapping parameters and the functional liver imaging score (FLIS) based on Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI could evaluate liver regeneration after hepatectomy for HCC patient.Methods: This retrospective study finally included 60 HCC patients (48 men and 12 women, with a median age of 53 years). T1 relaxation time of liver before gadoxetic acid injection (T1pre) and during the hepatobiliary phase (T1HBP), reduction rate (Δ%) and FLIS were calculated, their correlations with liver fibrosis stage, hepatic steatosis, and liver regeneration, quantified as regeneration index (RI), were assessed by Kendall's tau-b correlation test or Spearman's correlation test. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to explore the indicator of RI.Results: T1pre, T1HBP, ∆%, and FLIS manifested significant correlation with fibrosis stage (r = 0.434, P =0.001; r = 0.546, P < 0.001; r = -0.356, P =0.005; r = -0.653, P <0.001, respectively). T1pre showed significant correction with steatosis grade (r = 0.415, P =0.001). Fibrosis stage and steatosis grade were associated with RI (r = -0.436, P<0.001; r = -0.338, P =0.008). Accordingly, T1pre, T1HBP and FLIS were the significant predictors (P<0.05) of RI in multivariate analysis. Similarly, in the patients undergoing minor hepatectomy (n=35), T1HBP, ∆% and FLIS were related to RI (P<0.05) in multivariate analysis. Nevertheless, in the patients undergoing major hepatectomy (n=25), no T1 mapping parameter and FLIS was the independent predictor of RI.Conclusions: T1 mapping parameters and FLIS were the potential noninvasive indicators of liver regeneration, except for HCC patients undergoing major hepatectomy.The value of T1 mapping and FLIS with Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI for accurate preoperative evaluation of liver regeneration is critical to prevent liver failure and improve prognosis of HCC patients.1)Accurate preoperative evaluation of liver regeneration is critical to prevent liver failure.2)T1 mapping parameters and FLIS were associated with fibrosis stage and liver regeneration.3)T1 mapping parameters and FLIS were the potential noninvasive indicators of liver regeneration for HCC patients.

    Keywords: Liver Regeneration, T1 Mapping, Gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular, Hepatectomy ALB, albumin, HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma, HBP, hepatobiliary phase, IVIM, intravoxel incoherent motion

    Received: 25 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Li, Zhang, Yao, Gao, Nie, Tang, Wei and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bin Song, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

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