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. 2020 Oct 5;15(10):e0240043.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240043. eCollection 2020.

Exploring MRI based radiomics analysis of intratumoral spatial heterogeneity in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy

Farhan Akram  1 , Ping En Koh  2 , Fuqiang Wang  2 , Siqin Zhou  3 , Sze Huey Tan  3 , Mahsa Paknezhad  1 , Sojeong Park  1 , Tiffany Hennedige  4 , Choon Hua Thng  4 , Hwee Kuan Lee  1 , Kiattisa Sommat  2
Affiliations

Exploring MRI based radiomics analysis of intratumoral spatial heterogeneity in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy

Farhan Akram et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: We hypothesized that spatial heterogeneity exists between recurrent and non-recurrent regions within a tumor. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a difference between radiomics features derived from recurrent versus non recurrent regions within the tumor based on pre-treatment MRI.

Methods: A total of 14 T4NxM0 NPC patients with histologically proven "in field" recurrence in the post nasal space following curative intent IMRT were included in this study. Pretreatment MRI were co-registered with MRI at the time of recurrence for the delineation of gross tumor volume at diagnosis(GTV) and at recurrence(GTVr). A total of 7 histogram features and 40 texture features were computed from the recurrent(GTVr) and non-recurrent region(GTV-GTVr). Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were carried out on the 47 quantified radiomics features.

Results: A total of 7 features were significantly different between recurrent and non-recurrent regions. Other than the variance from intensity-based histogram, the remaining six significant features were either from the gray-level size zone matrix (GLSZM) or the neighbourhood gray-tone difference matrix (NGTDM).

Conclusions: The radiomic features extracted from pre-treatment MRI can potentially reflect the difference between recurrent and non-recurrent regions within a tumor and has a potential role in pre-treatment identification of intra-tumoral radio-resistance for selective dose escalation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Radiomics workflow.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Intensity-based histogram comparison between recurrent (GTV) and non-recurrent regions (GTV-GTVr) in all patients (n = 14, REC001-REC014).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Pearson correlation coefficient matrix on the paired differences of the seven significant features.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Box plots of the significant features, differentiating the recurrent and the non-recurrent regions.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Two-dimensional scatter plot of the recurrent and non-recurrent regions based on the first two principal components derived from the seven significant features.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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