Automatic 3D Tracking of Liver Metastases: Follow-Up Assessment of Cancer Patients in Contrast-Enhanced MRI

Tracking differential growth of secondary liver metastases is important for early detection of progression but remains challenging due to variable tumor growth rates. We aimed to automate accurate, consistent, and efficient longitudinal monitoring.

We developed an automatic 3D segmentation and tracking algorithm to quantify differential growth, tested on contrast-enhanced MRI follow-ups of patients with neuroendocrine liver metastases (NELMs). The output was integrated into a decision support tool to distinguish between progressive disease, stable disease, and partial/complete response. A user study involving an expert group of seven expert radiologists evaluated its impact. Group comparisons used the Friedman test with post hoc analyses.

Our algorithm detected 991 metastases in 30 patients: 13% new, 30% progressive, 18% stable, and 18% regressive; the remainder were either too small to measure (15%) or merged with another metastasis in the follow-up assessment (6%). Diagnostic accuracy improved with additional information on hepatic tumor load and differential growth, albeit not significantly (p = 0.72). The diagnosis time increased (p < 0.001). All radiologists found the method useful and expressed a desire to integrate it in existing diagnostic tools.

We automated segmentation and quantification of individual NELMs, enabling comprehensive longitudinal analysis of differential tumor growth with the potential to enhance clinical decision-making.