Radiomics Features Based on Dual-area CT Predict the Expression Levels of Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 and Outcome in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate the predictive value of tumor and peritumor radiomics in the fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) expression levels and overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: The genomic data of HCC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The Dual-area CT images of corresponding patients were downloaded from The Cancer Imaging Archive, for radiomics feature extraction, model construction and prognosis analysis. Simultaneously, using patients from Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, the prognostic value of the radiomics model in HCC patients was validated.

Results: In the TCIA database, the area under the curve (AUC) values of the volumes of interest (VOI) model in the training set and internal validation set were 0.812 and 0.754, respectively, and the AUC value of VOI in the training set and internal validation set were 0.866 and 0.779, respectively. In the VOI and the VOI model of the independent cohort, there were significant differences in OS between the high and low rad-score groups (P = 0.009, P = 0.021, respectively). Significant positive correlations can be observed between FABP4 expression and correlations with rad-score of VOI model (r = 0.691) and VOI model (r = 0.732) in the independent cohort.

Conclusion: Radiomics models of tumor and peritumor Dual-area CT images could predict stably the expression levels of FABP4 and may be helping in personalized treatment strategies.