AUTHOR=Shen Hesong , Wang Yu , Liu Daihong , Lv Rongfei , Huang Yuanying , Peng Chao , Jiang Shixi , Wang Ying , He Yongpeng , Lan Xiaosong , Huang Hong , Sun Jianqing , Zhang Jiuquan 

TITLE=Predicting Progression-Free Survival Using MRI-Based Radiomics for Patients With Nonmetastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00618

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.00618

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> This study aimed to explore the predictive value of MRI-based radiomic model for progression-free survival (PFS) in nonmetastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> A total of 327 nonmetastatic NPC patients [training cohort (<italic>n</italic> = 230) and validation cohort (<italic>n</italic> = 97)] were enrolled. The clinical and MRI data were collected. The least absolute shrinkage selection operator (LASSO) and recursive feature elimination (RFE) were used to select radiomic features. Five models [Model 1: clinical data, Model 2: overall stage, Model 3: radiomics, Model 4: radiomics + overall stage, Model 5: radiomics + overall stage + Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA] were constructed. The prognostic performances of these models were evaluated by Harrell's concordance index (C-index). The Kaplan–Meier method was applied for the survival analysis.</p><p><bold>Results</bold>: Model 5 incorporating radiomics, overall stage, and EBV DNA yielded the highest C-indices for predicting PFS in comparison with Model 1, Model 2, Model 3, and Model 4 (training cohorts: 0.805 vs. 0.766 vs. 0.749 vs. 0.641 vs. 0.563, validation cohorts: 0.874 vs. 0.839 vs. 836 vs. 0.689 vs. 0.456). The survival curve showed that the high-risk group yielded a lower PFS than the low-risk group.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> The model incorporating radiomics, overall stage, and EBV DNA showed better performance for predicting PFS in nonmetastatic NPC patients.</p>