MRI Radiomics Signature of Pediatric Medulloblastoma Improves Risk Stratification Beyond Clinical and Conventional MR Imaging Features

Background: Prognostic evaluation is important for personalized treatment in children with medulloblastoma (MB). Limited data are available for risk stratification using a radiomics-based model.Purpose: To evaluate the incremental value of an MRI radiomics signature in stratifying the risk of pediatric MB in terms of overall survival (OS).Study type: Retrospective.Subjects: A total of 111 children (mean age 5.82 years) with pathologically confirmed MB divided into training and validation cohorts (77 and 34 children, respectively).Field Strength/Sequence: A 3 T, contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging with inversion recovery.Assessment: The study endpoint was OS defined as the time between the preoperative MRI study and death or last follow-up. The radiomics signature model and a clinical-MRI model were developed for personalized OS prediction. An integrative model, which combined the radiomics signature and clinical-MRI features, was also built using multivariable Cox regression model. The performance of the three models was evaluated with the C-index. The performance of integrative model was assessed by calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA).Statistical Tests: Independent T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact tests or chi-square test, logistic regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, C-index, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The media OS was 2.83 years (3.87 & PLUSMN; 1.85 years). Two clinical and one conventional MR imaging features (remnant, adjuvant treatment, and peritumoral edema) were selected for clinical-MRI model building. The integrative model evaluated OS (C-index 0.823) better than either the radiomics signature (C-index 0.702) or the clinical-MRI model (C-index 0.771). And it also showed good performance in the validation cohort (C-indices: 0.786, 0.756, 0.721), which was validated by the good calibration (P > 0.05) and more benefit.Data Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the integrative model, which combined radiomics signature, clinical, and conventional MRI features, showed best performance in OS evaluation for children with MB. The radiomics signature may confer incremental value over clinical-MRI features.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the value of an MRI radiomics signature in stratifying the risk of pediatric MB and compared it with clinical-MRI features. The integrated model, combining radiomics signature, clinical, and conventional MRI features, showed the best performance in evaluating the overall survival of children with MB.