Radiomics in esophagogastric junction cancer: A scoping review of current status and advances

This scoping review aimed to understand the advances in radiomics in esophagogastric junction (EGJ) cancer and assess the current status of radiomics in EGJ cancer.

We conducted systematic searches of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from January 18, 2012, to January 15, 2023, to identify radiomics articles related to EGJ cancer. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the studies using the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) and the METhodological RadiomICs Score (METRICS) tool, respectively.

A total of 120 articles were retrieved from the three databases, and after screening, only six papers met the inclusion criteria. These studies investigated the role of radiomics in differentiating adenocarcinoma from squamous carcinoma, diagnosing T-stage, evaluating HER2 overexpression, predicting response to neoadjuvant therapy, and prognosis in EGJ cancer. The median score percentage of RQS was 34.7% (range from 22.2% to 38.9%). The median score percentage of METRICS was 71.2% (range from 58.2% to 84.9%).

Although there is a considerable difference between the RQS and METRICS scores of the included literature, we believe that the research value of radiomics in EGJ cancer has been revealed. In the future, while actively exploring more diagnostic, prognostic, and biological correlation studies in EGJ cancer, greater emphasis should be placed on the standardization and clinical application of radiomics.