Kruczkowska W, Gałęziewska J, Kciuk M, Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż, Zhao LY, Kołat D. Radiomics and clinicoradiological factors as a promising approach for predicting microvascular invasion in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(11): 101903 [PMID: 40124274 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i11.101903]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Damian Kołat, BSc, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Department of Functional Genomics, Medical University of Lodz, Żeligowskiego 7/9, Łódź 90-752, łódzkie, Poland. damian.kolat@umed.lodz.pl
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2025; 31(11): 101903 Published online Mar 21, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i11.101903
Radiomics and clinicoradiological factors as a promising approach for predicting microvascular invasion in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma
Weronika Kruczkowska, Julia Gałęziewska, Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, Damian Kołat, Department of Functional Genomics, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź 90-752, łódzkie, Poland
Mateusz Kciuk, Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Genetics, University of Lodz, Łódź 90-237, łódzkie, Poland
Żaneta Kałuzińska-Kołat, Damian Kołat, Department of Biomedicine and Experimental Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź 90-136, łódzkie, Poland
Lin-Yong Zhao, Department of General Surgery & Laboratory of Gastric Cancer, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy/Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Lin-Yong Zhao, Gastric Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Co-first authors: Weronika Kruczkowska and Julia Gałęziewska.
Author contributions: Kruczkowska W, Gałęziewska J, and Kołat D conceptualized the article; Kołat D supervised the article; Kruczkowska W, Gałęziewska J, Kciuk M, Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż, Zhao LY, and Kołat D reviewed the literature; Kruczkowska W, Gałęziewska J, and Kołat D wrote the original draft; Kruczkowska W, Gałęziewska J, Kciuk M, Kałuzińska-Kołat Ż, Zhao LY, and Kołat D reviewed and edited the article. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Kruczkowska W and Gałęziewska J contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Damian Kołat, BSc, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Department of Functional Genomics, Medical University of Lodz, Żeligowskiego 7/9, Łódź 90-752, łódzkie, Poland. damian.kolat@umed.lodz.pl
Received: September 30, 2024 Revised: January 29, 2025 Accepted: February 12, 2025 Published online: March 21, 2025 Processing time: 164 Days and 1.1 Hours
Abstract
Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a critical factor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis, particularly in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cases. This editorial examines a recent study by Xu et al who developed models to predict MVI and high-risk (M2) status in HBV-related HCC using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) radiomics and clinicoradiological factors. The study analyzed 270 patients, creating models that achieved an area under the curve values of 0.841 and 0.768 for MVI prediction, and 0.865 and 0.798 for M2 status prediction in training and validation datasets, respectively. These results are comparable to previous radiomics-based approaches, which reinforces the potential of this method in MVI prediction. The strengths of the study include its focus on HBV-related HCC and the use of widely accessible CECT imaging. However, limitations, such as retrospective design and manual segmentation, highlight areas for improvement. The editorial discusses the implications of the study including the need for standardized radiomics approaches and the potential impact on personalized treatment strategies. It also suggests future research directions, such as exploring mechanistic links between radiomics features and MVI, as well as integrating additional biomarkers or imaging modalities. Overall, this study contributes significantly to HCC management, paving the way for more accurate, personalized treatment approaches in the era of precision oncology.
Core Tip: This editorial examines a recent study that predicts microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) radiomics and clinicoradiological factors. The study developed models that achieve high predictive accuracy for MVI and high-risk (M2) status. These findings align with previous radiomics-based approaches, reinforcing their potential in MVI prediction. The strengths of the study include its focus on hepatitis B virus-related HCC and the use of widely accessible CT imaging. However, limitations such as retrospective design highlight areas for improvement. This research contributes significantly to HCC management, paving the way for more accurate, personalized treatment approaches in precision oncology.
