Xu Yan-Han, Lu Peng, Gao Ming-Cheng, Wang Rui, Li Yang-Yang, Song Jian-Xiang
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yancheng Third People's Hospital, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng 224000, Jiangsu Province, China.
Department of Imaging, Yancheng Third People's Hospital, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng 224000, Jiangsu Province, China.
World J Radiol. 2023 Jul 28;15(7):216-225. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v15.i7.216.
Esophageal cancer, also referred to as esophagus cancer, is a prevalent disease in the cardiothoracic field and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in China. Accurately determining the status of lymph nodes is crucial for developing treatment plans, defining the scope of intraoperative lymph node dissection, and ascertaining the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer. Recent advances in diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have improved the effectiveness of MRI for assessing lymph node involvement, making it a beneficial tool for guiding personalized treatment plans for patients with esophageal cancer in a clinical setting. Radiomics is a recently developed imaging technique that transforms radiological image data from regions of interest into high-dimensional feature data that can be analyzed. The features, such as shape, texture, and waveform, are associated with the cancer phenotype and tumor microenvironment. When these features correlate with the clinical disease outcomes, they form the basis for specific and reliable clinical evidence. This study aimed to review the potential clinical applications of MRI-based radiomics in studying the lymph nodes affected by esophageal cancer. The combination of MRI and radiomics is a powerful tool for diagnosing and treating esophageal cancer, enabling a more personalized and effectual approach.
食管癌，也被称为食道癌，是心胸领域的一种常见疾病，也是中国癌症相关死亡的主要原因。准确确定淋巴结状态对于制定治疗方案、明确术中淋巴结清扫范围以及确定食管癌患者的预后至关重要。扩散加权成像和动态对比增强磁共振成像（MRI）的最新进展提高了MRI评估淋巴结受累情况的有效性，使其成为临床环境中指导食管癌患者个性化治疗方案的有益工具。放射组学是一种最近开发的成像技术，它将来自感兴趣区域的放射影像数据转化为可分析的高维特征数据。诸如形状、纹理和波形等特征与癌症表型和肿瘤微环境相关。当这些特征与临床疾病结果相关时，它们就构成了具体且可靠的临床证据基础。本研究旨在综述基于MRI的放射组学在研究受食管癌影响的淋巴结方面的潜在临床应用。MRI与放射组学的结合是诊断和治疗食管癌的有力工具，能够实现更个性化和有效的方法。
