Radiomics Analysis on Noncontrast CT for Distinguishing Hepatic Hemangioma (HH) and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

To form a radiomic model on the basis of noncontrast computed tomography (CT) to distinguish hepatic hemangioma (HH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

In this retrospective study, a total of 110 patients were reviewed, including 72 HCC and 38 HH. We accomplished feature selection with the least absolute shrinkage and operator (LASSO) and built a radiomics signature. Another improved model (radiomics index) was established using forward conditional multivariate logistic regression. Both models were tested in an internal validation group (38 HCC and 21 HH).

The radiomic signature we built including 5 radiomic features demonstrated significant differences between the hepatic HH and HCC groups (P < 0.05). The improved model demonstrated a higher net benefit based on only 2 radiomic features. In the validation group, radiomics signature and radiomics index achieved great diagnostic performance with AUC values of 0.716 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.581, 0.850) and 0.870 (95% CI: 0.782, 0.957), respectively.

Our developed radiomics-based model can successfully distinguish HH and HCC patients, which can help clinical decision-making with lower cost.