Affiliation:
1. Sichuan University Department of Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital, , Chengdu, China, 610041
2. Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Psychoradiology, , Chengdu, China, 610041
Abstract
Abstract
Objective
The accurate clinical diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis plays an important role in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). This study aimed to explore and summarize a more objective approach to detect cervical malignant lymph node metastasis of DTC via radiomics models.
Methods
PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for all eligible studies. Articles using radiomics models based on ultrasound, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging to assess cervical lymph node metastasis preoperatively were included. Characteristics and diagnostic accuracy measures were extracted. Bias and applicability judgments were evaluated by the revised QUADAS-2 tool. The estimates were pooled using a random-effects model. Additionally, the leave-one-out method was conducted to assess the heterogeneity.
Results
Twenty-nine radiomics studies with 6160 validation set patients were included in the qualitative analysis, and 11 studies with 3863 validation set patients were included in the meta-analysis. Four of them had an external independent validation set. The studies were heterogeneous, and a significant risk of bias was found in 29 studies. Meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity and specificity for preoperative prediction of lymph node metastasis via US-based radiomics were 0.81 (95% CI, 0.73-0.86) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.83-0.91), respectively.
Conclusions
Although radiomics-based models for cervical lymphatic metastasis in DTC have been demonstrated to have moderate diagnostic capabilities, broader data, standardized radiomics features, robust feature selection, and model exploitation are still needed in the future.
Advances in knowledge
The radiomics models showed great potential in detecting malignant lymph nodes in thyroid cancer.
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging,General Medicine