Editorial for "Intra- and Peritumoral Based Radiomics for Assessment of Lymphovascular Invasion in Invasive Breast Cancer"

Background: Radiomics has been applied for assessing lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in patients with breast cancer. However, associations between features from peritumoral regions and the LVI status were not investigated. Purpose: To investigate the value of intra- and peritumoral radiomics for assessing LVI, and to develop a nomogram to assist in making treatment decisions. Study Type: Retrospective. Population: Three hundred and sixteen patients were enrolled from two centers and divided into training (N = 165), internal validation (N = 83), and external validation (N = 68) cohorts. Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5 T and 3.0 T/dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Assessment: Radiomics features were extracted and selected based on intra- and peritumoral breast regions in two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences to create the multiparametric MRI combined radiomics signature (RS-DCE plus DWI). The clinical model was built with MRI-axillary lymph nodes (MRI ALN), MRI-reported peritumoral edema (MPE), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). The nomogram was constructed with RS-DCE plus DWI, MRI ALN, MPE, and ADC. Statistical Tests: Intra- and interclass correlation coefficient analysis, Mann–Whitney U test, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression were used for feature selection. Receiver operating characteristic and decision curve analyses were applied to compare performance of the RS-DCE plus DWI, clinical model, and nomogram. Results: A total of 10 features were found to be associated with LVI, 3 from intra- and 7 from peritumoral areas. The nomogram showed good performance in the training (AUCs, nomogram vs. clinical model vs. RS-DCE plus DWI, 0.884 vs. 0.695 vs. 0.870), internal validation (AUCs, nomogram vs. clinical model vs. RS-DCE plus DWI, 0.813 vs. 0.695 vs. 0.794), and external validation (AUCs, nomogram vs. clinical model vs. RS-DCE plus DWI, 0.862 vs. 0.601 vs. 0.849) cohorts. Data Conclusion: The constructed preoperative nomogram might effectively assess LVI. Level of Evidence: 3. Technical Efficacy: Stage 2. © 2023 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.