A systematic review of the management and implications of radiation-induced lymphopenia and the predictive rate of radiomic-based approaches in lung cancer

Abstract

Radiation therapy remains a crucial treatment option for lung cancer, but radiation-induced lymphopenia can impact treatment results and patient well-being. Radiomics-based techniques have made it easier to predict therapy response and patient outcomes by extracting and analyzing quantitative imaging characteristics. This review examines radiation-induced lymphopenia management and its consequences while evaluating the predictive capabilities of radiomics-based approaches in the lung cancer context. A systematic review was undertaken using Scinapse, Scholar and PubMed, with 1247 papers chosen based on predefined criterion for inclusion and exclusion. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines declaration, 15 peer-reviewed studies published between 2019 and 2021 were included in the review after removing duplicates. The search technique retrieved 491 studies from PubMed, 540 from Scinapse and 250 from Google Scholar. In this quantitative statistic, we provided categorical data as the interquartile range (IQR) for constants and fractions. Then, we reviewed papers that examined techniques for managing radiation-induced lymphopenia and its implications for treatment results. These techniques were correlated with possible improvements in patient outcomes and a decrease in the degree of lymph node dysfunction. An examination of forest plots was carried out to assess the prediction efficiency of radiomics-based techniques in forecasting lung cancer patient survival and to summarize therapy regimens for radiation-induced lymphoma. The Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) was used as a quantitative tool to assess the consequences of radiation-induced lymphopenia. Patients having radiation-related lymph node dysfunction have an elevated risk of developing lung tambours and dying from it. Especially in people who have additional risk factors, minimizing the lung and heart dosage could reduce lymphopenia and perhaps enhance the course of therapy for these patients.