• Survival analysis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma based on radiomics and deep learning features from CT images

    Zhennan Lu, Sijia Wu, Dan Ni, Meng Zhou, Tao Wang, Xiaobo Zhou, Liyu Huang, Yu Yan

    Medicine (Baltimore) . 2024 Dec 20;103(51):e40723. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000040723.

    Abstract

    Purpose: To create a nomogram for accurate prognosis of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) based on computed tomography images.

    Methods: Eight hundred twenty-two ccRCC patients with contrast-enhanced computed tomography images involved in this study were collected. A rectangular region of interest surrounding the tumor was used to extract quantitative radiomics and deep-learning features, which were filtered by Cox proportional hazard regression model and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Then the selected features formed a fusion signature, which was assessed by Cox proportional hazard regression model method, Kaplan-Meier analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves, and concordance index (C-index) in different clinical subgroups. Finally, a nomogram constructed with this signature and clinicopathologic risk factors was assessed by C-index and survival calibration curves.

    Results: The fusion signature performed better than the radiomics signature. Then we combined this signature and 2 clinicopathologic risk factors. This nomogram showed an increase of about 20% in C-index values when compared to clinical nomogram in both datasets. Its prediction probability was also in good agreement with the actual ratio.

    Conclusion: The proposed fusion nomogram provided a noninvasive and easy-to-use model for survival prognosis of ccRCC patients in future clinical use, without the requirement to perform a detailed segmentation for radiologists.