Prediction of histopathologic grades of myxofibrosarcoma with radiomics based on magnetic resonance imaging.

PURPOSE: To develop a radiomics-based model from preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the histopathological grades of myxofibrosarcoma. METHODS: This retrospective study included 54 patients. The tumors were classified into high-grade and low-grade myxofibrosarcoma. The tumor size, signal intensity heterogeneity, margin, and surrounding tissue were evaluated on MRI. Using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithms, 1037 radiomics features were obtained from fat-suppressed T2-weighted images (T2WI), and a radiomics signature was established. Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, three models were built to predict the histopathologic grade of myxofibrosarcoma. A radiomics nomogram represents the integrative model. The three models' performance was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and calibration curves. RESULTS: The high-grade myxofibrosarcoma had greater depth (P = 0.027), more frequent heterogeneous signal intensity at T2WI (P = 0.015), and tail sign (P = 0.014) than the low-grade tumor. The area under curve (AUC) of these conventional MRI features models was 0.648, 0.656, and 0.668, respectively. Seven radiomic features were selected by LASSO to construct the radiomics signature model, with an AUC of 0.791. The AUC of the integrative model based on radiomics signature and conventional MRI features was 0.875. The integrative model's calibration curve and insignificant Hosmer-Lemeshow test statistic (P = 0.606) revealed good calibration. CONCLUSION: An integrative model using radiomics signature and three conventional MRI features can preoperatively predict low- or high-grade myxofibrosarcoma.

CT findings predict survival of patients with peripheral T cell lymphoma: a preliminary study.

Background Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is an uncommon disease with poor clinical outcomes. Radiological reports on the survival of patients with PTCL are scarce. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prognostic value of CT findings to predict clinical outcomes in fifty-one patients with histologically proven PTCL. Patients and methods The clinical data and CT images of all patients were retrospectively reviewed. CT features including number of involvement sites, lesion size, shape, margin, density, peritumoral invasion, intratumoral necrosis, lymph node involvement, and degree of contrast enhancement were evaluated. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to determine the association between the clinical outcome and radiologic factors. Results Multiple site involvement, an ill-defined margin with peritumoral invasion, inhomogeneous density, and intratumoral necrosis were found to be associated with poor outcomes in univariate analysis (P < 0.05). An ill-defined margin with peritumoral invasion, was identified as an independent risk sign by further multivariate logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve of this CT feature was 0.745 (P < 0.05). Conclusions An ill-defined margin with peritumoral invasion was a valuable prognostic factor to predict the worse clinical outcomes in patients with PTCL.

Computer-aided evaluation of the correlation between MRI morphology and immunohistochemical biomarkers or molecular subtypes in breast cancer.

Studies using tumor circularity (TC), a quantitative MRI morphologic index, to evaluate breast cancer are scarce. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation between TC and immunohistochemical biomarkers or molecular subtypes in breast cancer. 146 patients with 150 breast cancers were selected. All tumors were confirmed by histopathology and examined by 3.0T MRI. TC was calculated by computer-aided software. The associations between TC and patient age, tumor size, histological grade, molecular subtypes, and immunohistochemical biomarkers including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki67 were analyzed. TC correlated inversely with tumor size (r = -0.224, P < 0.001), ER (r = -0.490, P < 0.001) and PR (r = -0.484, P < 0.001). However, TC correlated positively with Ki67 (r = 0.332, P < 0.001) and histological grade (r = 0.309, P < 0.001). In multiple linear regression analysis, tumor size, ER, PR and Ki67 were independent influential factors of TC. Compared with HER2-overexpressed (61.6%), luminal A (54.7%) and luminal B (52.3%) subtypes, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) showed the highest score of TC (70.8%, P < 0.001). Our study suggests that TC can be used as an imaging biomarker to predict the aggressiveness of newly diagnosed breast cancers. TNBC seems to present as an orbicular appearance when comparing with other subtypes.

Radiological-pathological correlation of yolk sac tumor in 20 patients.

BACKGROUND: Yolk sac tumor (YST) is a rare tumor. Familiarity of its radiological characteristics may permit preoperative diagnosis and improve surgical management of patients. However, a detailed description of the imaging features of YST with pathological correlation in particular is scarce. PURPOSE: To investigate computed tomography (CT) findings of YSTs with pathological correlation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CT images of 20 patients with pathologically proven YST were retrospectively reviewed. The location, size, margin, internal architecture, and pattern and degree enhancement of the lesion were evaluated. Radiological findings were correlated with pathological results. RESULTS: The locations of 20 tumors were distributed between the testis (n = 3), ovary (n = 6), sacrococcygeal area (n = 6), rectum (n = 1), and mediastinum (n = 4). The median age was 13 years. On CT images, all tumors were seen as oval (n = 14) or irregular (n = 6), well-defined (n = 16) or ill-defined (n = 4) masses with a mean size of 9.7 cm. The lesions were solid cystic (n = 10), entirely solid (n = 6), or predominantly cystic (n = 4). Intratumoral hemorrhage, calcification, and fatty tissue were seen in nine, three, and two tumors, respectively. Discontinuity of the tumor wall was seen in eight tumors. After contrast media administration, most tumors showed heterogeneous moderate to marked enhancement (n = 7) or heterogeneous marked enhancement (n = 9). Enlarged intratumoral vessels were seen in 17 tumors. CONCLUSION: YST usually appears as a large solid-cystic mass with intratumoral hemorrhage, capsular tear, marked heterogeneous enhancement, and enlarged intratumoral vessels on CT images. Intratumoral calcification and fatty tissue, although rare, may indicate a mixed YST containing teratoma component.

A simple optimization approach for improving target dose homogeneity in intensity-modulated radiotherapy for sinonasal cancer.

Homogeneous target dose distribution in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for sinonasal cancer (SNC) is challenging to achieve. To solve this problem, we established and evaluated a basal-dose-compensation (BDC) optimization approach, in which the treatment plan is further optimized based on the initial plans. Generally acceptable initial IMRT plans for thirteen patients were created and further optimized individually by (1) the BDC approach and (2) a local-dose-control (LDC) approach, in which the initial plan is further optimized by addressing hot and cold spots. We compared the plan qualities, total planning time and monitor units (MUs) among the initial, BDC, LDC IMRT plans and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans. The BDC approach provided significantly superior dose homogeneity/conformity by 23%-48%/6%-9% compared with both the initial and LDC IMRT plans, as well as reduced doses to the organs at risk (OARs) by up to 18%, with acceptable MU numbers. Compared with VMAT, BDC IMRT yielded superior homogeneity, inferior conformity and comparable overall OAR sparing. The planning of BDC, LDC IMRT and VMAT required 30, 59 and 58 minutes on average, respectively. Our results indicated that the BDC optimization approach can achieve significantly better dose distributions with shorter planning time in the IMRT for SNC.

CT imaging of ovarian yolk sac tumor with emphasis on differential diagnosis.

Ovarian yolk sac tumors (YSTs) are rare neoplasms. No radiological study has been done to compare the imaging findings between this type of tumor and other ovarian tumors. Here we analyzed the CT findings of 11 pathologically proven ovarian YSTs and compared their imaging findings with 18 other types of ovarian tumors in the same age range. Patient age, tumor size, tumor shape, ascites and metastasis of two groups did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). A mixed solid-cystic nature, intratumoral hemorrhage, marked enhancement and dilated intratumoral vessel of two groups differed significantly (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve of four significant CT features was 0.679, 0.707, 0.705, and 1.000, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified two independent signs of YST: intratumoral hemorrhage and marked enhancement. Our results show that certain suggestive CT signs that may be valuable for improving the accuracy of imaging diagnosis of YST and may be helpful in distinguishing YST from other ovarian tumors.

Determining the organ of origin of large pelvic masses in females using multidetector CT angiography and three-dimensional volume rendering CT angiography.

OBJECTIVE: To study the value of tumour feeding arteries and the ovarian vein in determining the organ of origin of large pelvic tumours in females using multidetector CT. METHODS: One hundred and thirty patients with 131 pathologically proven tumours (>6.5 cm) were retrospectively reviewed. Conventional CT images and CT angiography were evaluated, with focus on assessing the value of tumour feeding arteries and the ovarian vein in differentiating ovarian from non-ovarian tumours. RESULTS: For 97 ovarian tumours, the feeding arteries included the ovarian artery (n = 51) and the ovarian branch of uterine artery (n = 64). For 34 non-ovarian tumours, the feeding arteries included the ovarian artery (n = 2), the uterine artery (n = 21), the mesenteric artery (n = 5), and the internal iliac artery (n = 1). The ovarian vein was identified in 86 ovarian tumours and 12 non-ovarian tumours. When the feeding arteries and the ovarian vein were combined to confirm ovarian origin, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 97.8 %, 84.2 %, 93.8 %, 94.1 %, and 93.9 %, respectively. The accuracy was significantly higher than that of independently using the ovarian vein or the ovarian feeding arteries. CONCLUSION: Combined application of tumour feeding arteries and the ovarian vein is valuable to differentiate large ovarian from non-ovarian tumours. KEY POINTS: • CT is a valuable modality for diagnosing pelvic tumours. • Determining the organ of origin is difficult for large pelvic tumours. • Contrast-enhanced CT and CT angiography are helpful in depicting abdominopelvic vessels. • Tracking tumour-associated vessels can help differentiate large ovarian from non-ovarian tumours.

Diagnostic and therapeutic strategy and the most efficient prognostic factors of breast malignant fibrous histiocytoma.

We analyzed the clinicopathological features of 9 breast malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) patients. Immunohistochemistry was used to make both diagnosis and differential diagnosis, and to identify prognostic factors. All tumors lacked epithelial markers but expressed mesenchymal markers, suggesting a mesenchymal origin. Of the five cases expressing Ki-67, two of three patients with axillary lymph node involvement died between 6-8 months, and two died at 17 and 26 months after diagnosis. The two remaining cases, with low Ki-67 expression, had no recurrent or metastatic disease at 145 months after diagnosis. Previous studies have shown that surgery is the primary treatment of choice, but no clear benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy was observed. We demonstrate that axillary lymph node involvement and high expression of Ki-67 are associated with poorer prognosis. A literature review indicates surgery remains the first choice for MFH, but benefits from adjuvant chemotherapy remain unclear.

Evaluation of the relationship between extremity soft tissue sarcomas and adjacent major vessels using contrast-enhanced multidetector CT and three-dimensional volume-rendered CT angiography: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Accurate description of the relationship between extremity soft tissue sarcoma and the adjacent major vessels is crucial for successful surgery. In addition to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or in patients who cannot undergo MRI, two-dimensional (2D) postcontrast computed tomography (CT) images and three-dimensional (3D) volume-rendered CT angiography may be valuable alternative imaging techniques for preoperative evaluation of extremity sarcomas. PURPOSE: To preoperatively assess extremity sarcomas using multidetector CT (MDCT), with emphasis on postcontrast MDCT images and 3D volume-rendered MDCT angiography in evaluating the relationship between tumors and adjacent major vessels. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MDCT examinations were performed on 13 patients with non-metastatic extremity sarcomas. Conventional CT images and 3D volume-rendered CT angiography were evaluated, with focus on the relationship between tumors and adjacent major vessels. Kappa consistency statistics were performed with surgery serving as the reference standard. RESULTS: The relationship between sarcomas and adjacent vessels was described as one of three patterns: proximity, adhesion, and encasement. Proximity was seen in five cases on postcontrast CT images or in eight cases on volume-rendered images. Adhesion was seen in three cases on both postcontrast CT images and volume-rendered images. Encasement was seen in five cases on postcontrast CT images or in two cases on volume-rendered images. Compared to surgical results, postcontrast CT images had 100% sensitivity, 83.3% specificity, 87.5% positive predictive value, 100% negative predictive value, and 92.3% accuracy in the detection of vascular invasion (κ = 0.843, P = 0.002). 3D volume-rendered CT angiography had 71.4% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value, 75% negative predictive value, and 84.6% accuracy in the detection of vascular invasion (κ = 0.698, P = 0.008). On volume-rendered images, all cases with adhesion or encasement had arterial stenosis and all tumors' feeding arteries were clearly depicted. CONCLUSION: 2D postcontrast CT images are superior to 3D volume-rendered CT angiography in evaluating the relationship between extremity sarcomas and adjacent major vessels. 3D volume-rendered CT angiography is good at assessing the tumor's blood supply, the longitudinal extent of vascular involvement, and the vascular narrowing due to the tumor.

Experimental hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: comparison of apparent diffusion coefficients and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

This study aims to compare the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) in the first 24 h of acute hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in piglets. Twenty-five 7-day-old piglets were subjected to transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion followed by ventilation with 4% oxygen for 1 h. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and (1)H-MRS were performed on cessation of the insult or at 3, 6, 12 or 24 h after resuscitation (all n=5). ADCs, N-acetylaspartate/choline (NAA/Cho), NAA/creatine (NAA/Cr), lactate/NAA (Lac/NAA), Lac/Cho and Lac/Cr were calculated. Cerebral injury was evaluated by pathological study and Hsp70 immunohistochemical analysis. On cessation of the insult, ADCs, NAA/Cho and NAA/Cr reduced, Lac/NAA, Lac/Cho and Lac/Cr increased. From 3 to 12 h after resuscitation, ADCs, Lac/NAA, Lac/Cho and Lac/Cr recovered, NAA/Cho and NAA/Cr reduced. Twenty-four hours after resuscitation, ADCs reduced once more, Lac/NAA, Lac/Cho and Lac/Cr increased again, whereas NAA/Cho and NAA/Cr decreased continuously. Pathological study revealed mild cerebral edema on cessation of the insult and more and more severe cerebral injury after resuscitation. No Hsp70-positive cells were detected on cessation of the insult. From 3 to 12 hours after resuscitation, Hsp70-positive cells gradually increased. Twenty-four hours after resuscitation, Hsp70-positive cells decreased. Throughout the experiment, changes in NAA/Cho and pathology had the best correlation (R=-0.729). In conclusion, NAA/Cho is the most precise ratio to reflect the pathological changes of early HIBD. Transient ADCs and Lac ratios recovery do not predict the reversal of histological damage of early HIBD. Reducing astrocytic swelling is of great clinical significance.