Development and Validation of a Radiomics Model Based on F-FDG PET of Primary Gastric Cancer for Predicting Peritoneal Metastasis

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a preoperative positron emission tomography (PET)-based radiomics model for predicting peritoneal metastasis (PM) of gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: In this study, a total of 355 patients (109PM+, 246PM-) who underwent preoperative fluorine-18-fludeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET images were retrospectively analyzed. According to a 7:3 ratio, patients were randomly divided into a training set and a validation set. Radiomics features and metabolic parameters data were extracted from PET images. The radiomics features were selected by logistic regression after using maximum relevance and minimum redundancy (mRMR) and the least shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method. The radiomics models were based on the rest of these features. The performance of the models was determined by their discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness in the training and validation sets.

Results: After dimensionality reduction, 12 radiomics feature parameters were obtained to construct radiomics signatures. According to the results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis, only carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), and the radiomics signature showed statistically significant differences between patients (P<0.05). A radiomics model was developed based on the logistic analyses with an AUC of 0.86 in the training cohort and 0.87 in the validation cohort. The clinical prediction model based on CA125 and SUVmax was 0.76 in the training set and 0.69 in the validation set. The comprehensive model, which contained a rad-score and the clinical factor (CA125) as well as the metabolic parameter (SUVmax), showed promising performance with an AUC of 0.90 in the training cohort and 0.88 in the validation cohort, respectively. The calibration curve showed the actual rate of the nomogram-predicted probability of peritoneal metastasis. Decision curve analysis (DCA) also demonstrated the good clinical utility of the radiomics nomogram.

Conclusions: The comprehensive model based on the rad-score and other factors (SUVmax, CA125) can provide a novel tool for predicting peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer patients preoperatively.