MRI-based radiomics model can improve the predictive performance of postlaminar optic nerve invasion in retinoblastoma

Objectives: To develop an MRI-based radiomics model to predict postlaminar optic nerve invasion (PLONI) in retinoblastoma (RB) and compare its predictive performance with subjective radiologists’ assessment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 124 patients with pathologically proven RB (90 in training set and 34 in validation set) who had MRI scans before surgery. A radiomics model for predicting PLONI was developed by extracting quantitative imaging features from axial T2W images and contrast-enhanced T1W images in the training set. The Kruskal–Wallis test, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression, and recursive feature elimination were used for feature selection, where upon a radiomics model was built with a logistic regression (LR) classifier. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the accuracy were assessed to evaluate the predictive performance in the training and validation set. The performance of the radiomics model was compared to radiologists’ assessment by DeLong test. Results: The AUC of the radiomics model for the prediction of PLONI was 0.928 in the training set and 0.841 in the validation set. Radiomics model produced better sensitivity than radiologists’ assessment (81.1% vs 43.2% in training set, 82.4vs 52.9% in validation set). In all 124 patients, the AUC of the radiomics model was 0.897, while that of radiologists’ assessment was 0.674 (p < 0.001, DeLong test). Conclusion: MRI-based radiomics model to predict PLONI in RB patients was shown to be superior to visual assessment with improved sensitivity and AUC, and may serve as a potential tool to guide personalized treatment.