Cone-beam computed tomography-based radiomics in prostate cancer: a mono-institutional study

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the reported study was to investigate the value of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based radiomics for risk stratification and prediction of biochemical relapse in prostate cancer.

Methods: The study population consisted of 31 prostate cancer patients. Radiomics features were extracted from weekly CBCT scans performed for verifying treatment position. From the data, logistic-regression models were learned for establishing tumor stage, Gleason score, level of prostate-specific antigen, and risk stratification, and for predicting biochemical recurrence. Performance of the learned models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) or the area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PRC).

Results: Results suggest that the histogram-based Energy and Kurtosis features and the shape-based feature representing the standard deviation of the maximum diameter of the prostate gland during treatment are predictive of biochemical relapse and indicative of patients at high risk.

Conclusion: Our results suggest the usefulness of CBCT-based radiomics for treatment definition in prostate cancer.

Keywords: Biochemical recurrence; Cone-beam computed tomography; Prostate cancer; Radiomics; Radiotherapy.