Whole‐liver CT texture analysis in colorectal cancer: Does the presence of liver metastases affect the texture of the remaining liver?

Abstract

Background: Liver metastases limit survival in colorectal cancer. Earlier detection of (occult) metastatic disease may benefit treatment and survival. Objective: The objective of this article is to evaluate the potential of whole-liver CT texture analysis of apparently diseasefree liver parenchyma for discriminating between colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with and without hepatic metastases. Methods: The primary staging CT examinations of 29 CRC patients were retrospectively analysed. Patients were divided into three groups: patients without liver metastases (n ¼ 15), with synchronous liver metastases (n ¼ 10) and metachronous liver metastases within 18 months following primary staging (n ¼ 4). Whole-liver texture analysis was performed by delineation of the apparently non-diseased liver parenchyma (excluding metastases or other focal liver lesions) on portal phase images. Mean grey-level intensity (M), entropy (E) and uniformity (U) were derived with no filtration and different filter widths (0.5 ¼ fine, 1.5 ¼ medium, 2.5 ¼ coarse). Results: Mean E 1.5 and E 2.5 for the whole liver in patients with synchronous metastases were significantly higher compared with the non-metastatic patients (p ¼ 0.02 and p ¼ 0.01). Mean U 1.5 and U 2.5 were significantly lower in the synchronous metastases group compared with the non-metastatic group (p ¼ 0.04 and p ¼ 0.02). Texture parameters for the metachronous metastases group were not significantly different from the non-metastatic group or synchronous metastases group (p > 0.05), although -similar to the synchronous metastases group -there was a subtle trend towards increased E 1.5 , E 2.5 and decreased U 1.5 , U 2.5 values. Areas under the ROC curve for the diagnosis of synchronous metastatic disease based on the texture parameters E 1.5,2.5 and U 1.5,2.5 ranged between 0.73 and 0.78. Conclusion: Texture analysis of the apparently non-diseased liver holds promise to differentiate between CRC patients with and without metastatic liver disease. Further research is required to determine whether these findings may be used to benefit the prediction of metachronous liver disease.

Texture analysis of CT imaging for assessment of esophageal squamous cancer aggressiveness

“…Many studies have highlighted the value of entropy in differentiating positive-human papillomavirus form negative-human papillomavirus primary oropharyngeal squamous cell (24), identifying colorectal cancer patients with metastatic liver disease (25), and predicting lung cancer recurrence after stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (26). Most parameters showed good or excellent interobserver agreement, with ICCs ranging from 0.699 to 0.921, indicating their stability.…”

Differentiation of atypical pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas: Using whole‐tumor CT texture analysis as quantitative biomarkers

“…Texture analysis is an emerging and noninvasive method of assessing organizational characteristics, which can provide objectively quantified parameters for differential diagnosis independent of subjective analysis . Many prior studies have proved that CT texture analysis (CTTA) can be utilized to characterize a variety of tumors such as gastric cancer, renal neoplasms, and colorectal cancer . However, the utility of CT texture analysis to differentiate atypical pNET and PDAC has not been widely reported.…”

“…13 Many prior studies have proved that CT texture analysis (CTTA) can be utilized to characterize a variety of tumors such as gastric cancer, renal neoplasms, and colorectal cancer. [14][15][16] However, the utility of CT texture analysis to differentiate atypical pNET and PDAC has not been widely reported. Moreover, most of the previous studies chose one aspect of tumor as a region of interest (ROI), which did not reflect the characteristics of the entire tumor and likely to result in wrong results due to selection bias.…”

Computed Tomography Image Texture: A Noninvasive Prognostic Marker of Hepatic Recurrence After Hepatectomy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

“…Texture features of liver parenchyma may be altered by occult malignancy and may represent a potential surrogate for later recurrent disease. 14–16 TA of hepatic parenchyma has been shown to be predictive of post-hepatectomy liver insufficiency, hepatitis C activity, and grade of cirrhosis. 17,18 These findings provide preliminary evidence that TA may be able to detect variations in the liver that may, in turn, be related to risk of hepatic recurrence.…”