Cervical Spine Osteoradionecrosis or Bone Metastasis after Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma? The MRI-Based Radiomics for Characterization

Abstract

Background: To develop and validate an MRI-based radiomics nomogram for differentiation of cervical spine ORN from metastasis after radiotherapy (RT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods: A radiomics nomogram was developed in a training set that comprised 46 NPC patients after RT with 95 cervical spine lesions (ORN, n = 51; metastasis, n = 44), and data were gathered from January 2008 to December 2012. 279 radiomics features were extracted from the axial contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image (CE-T1WI). A radiomics signature was created by using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm. A nomogram model was developed based on the radiomics scores. The performance of the nomogram was determined in terms of its discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. An independent validation set contained 25 consecutive patients with 47 lesions (ORN, n = 25; metastasis, n = 22) from January 2013 to December 2015.Results: The radiomics signature that comprised eight selected features was significantly associated with the differentiation of cervical spine ORN and metastasis. The nomogram model demonstrated good calibration and discrimination in the training set [AUC, 0.725; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.622–0.828] and the validation set (AUC, 0.720; 95% CI, 0.573–0.867). The decision curve analysis indicated that the radiomics nomogram was clinically useful.Conclusions: MRI-based radiomics nomogram shows potential value to differentiate cervical spine ORN from metastasis after RT in NPC.

Human/eukaryotic ribosomal protein L14 (RPL14/eL14) overexpression represses proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT process in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

“…Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common head and neck tumors, which often occurs in the epithelial lining of the nasopharynx [1,2]. There are differences in the geographic and ethnic distribution of nasopharyngeal cancer, with NPC common among populations in South China, North Africa, and Southeast Asia [3,4]. At present, the main methods for NPC treatment are chemotherapy, and radiotherapy [4].…”

“…There are differences in the geographic and ethnic distribution of nasopharyngeal cancer, with NPC common among populations in South China, North Africa, and Southeast Asia [3,4]. At present, the main methods for NPC treatment are chemotherapy, and radiotherapy [4]. With the advances in radiotherapy and chemotherapy technology, the 5-year survival rate in NPC patients has increased from 25% to 40% to about 70%, which points to a marked improvement in the overall prognosis of NPC [5].…”