Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026
Non-Invasive PET/MR Imaging in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published on: August 31, 2022
MRI-based clinicoradiologic model for identifying MT-HCC with distinct postoperative prognosis and potential
Yiman Li1, Zhebo Qin2, Jie Cheng1
17T Magnetic Resonance Translational Medicine Research Center, Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China.
Background:
This study aims to develop a non-invasive MRI-based clinicoradiologic model for predicting microvascular invasion-positive (MVI+) and tertiary lymphoid structures-positive (TLSs+) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to explore whether this subgroup is associated with different postoperative outcomes and a potential differential association with postoperative TKI-ICI combination therapy.
Methods:
A retrospective analysis was conducted on 338 HCC patients across two centers, stratified by MVI and TLSs status, and divided into training (n=237) and validation (n=101) cohorts. MRI features such as tumor size, hemorrhage, and capsule, were assessed. Model performance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Kaplan-Meier curves were used to compare recurrence-free survival (RFS).
Results:
The MRI-based clinicoradiologic model for predicting MVI+/TLSs+ HCC (MT-HCC) integrated AFP levels and MRI features, including absence of intratumoral hemorrhage, incomplete capsule, and mosaic structure, achieved an AUC of 0.831 in the validation cohort. In exploratory analyses, the model-predicted MT-HCC group showed a shorter RFS than the model-predicted non-MT-HCC group among patients without postoperative TKI-ICI exposure (p = 0.002), whereas a different RFS pattern was observed among patients with postoperative TKI-ICI exposure (p = 0.017).
Conclusion:
The MRI-based clinicoradiologic model may help identify MT-HCC preoperatively and may help identify a subgroup with distinct postoperative prognosis and a possible differential outcome pattern according to postoperative TKI-ICI exposure.
