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Texture analysis on conventional MRI images accurately predicts early malignant transformation of low-grade gliomas

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Abstract

Objectives

Texture analysis performed on MRI images can provide additional quantitative information that is invisible to human assessment. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of texture analysis on preoperative conventional MRI images in predicting early malignant transformation from low- to high-grade glioma and compare its utility to histogram analysis alone.

Methods

A total of 68 patients with low-grade glioma (LGG) were included in this study, 15 of which showed malignant transformation. Patients were randomly divided into training (60%) and testing (40%) sets. Texture analyses were performed to obtain the most discriminant factor (MDF) values for both training and testing data. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed on MDF values and 9 histogram parameters in the training data to obtain cutoff values for determining the correct rates of discrimination between two groups in the testing data.

Results

The ROC analyses on MDF values resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.90 (sensitivity 85%, specificity 84%) for T2w FLAIR, 0.92 (86%, 94%) for ADC, 0.96 (97%, 84%) for T1w, and 0.82 (78%, 75%) for T1w + Gd and correctly discriminated between the two groups in 93%, 100%, 93%, and 92% of cases in testing data, respectively. In the astrocytoma subgroup, AUCs were 0.92 (88%, 83%) for T2w FLAIR and 0.90 (92%, 74%) for T1w + Gd and correctly discriminated two groups in 100% and 92% of cases. The MDF outperformed all 9 of the histogram parameters.

Conclusion

Texture analysis on conventional preoperative MRI images can accurately predict early malignant transformation of LGGs, which may guide therapeutic planning.

Key Points

• Texture analysis performed on MRI images can provide additional quantitative information that is invisible to human assessment.

• Texture analysis based on conventional preoperative MR images can accurately predict early malignant transformation from low- to high-grade glioma.

• Texture analysis is a clinically feasible technique that may provide an alternative and effective way of determining the likelihood of early malignant transformation and help guide therapeutic decisions.

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Abbreviations

AUC:

Area under the curve

LDA:

Linear discriminant analysis

LGG:

Low-grade glioma

MDF:

Most discriminant factor

ROC:

Receiver operating characteristic

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Kelly McCabe Gillen, PhD, for her assistance in manuscript editing.

Funding

This study has received funding by grants from the National Institutes of Health of United States (R01 NS095562, R01 NS090464) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81730049, 81801666).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095# Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Shun Zhang & Wenzhen Zhu

  2. Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, 407 E 61st Street Suite 107, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Shun Zhang, Gloria Chia-Yi Chiang, Eileen Wang Chang, Yi Wang & Ilhami Kovanlikaya

  3. Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Rajiv S. Magge & Howard Alan Fine

  4. Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Rohan Ramakrishna

  5. Department of Radiology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Tejas Pulisetty

  6. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Yi Wang

Authors
  1. Shun Zhang
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  2. Gloria Chia-Yi Chiang
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  3. Rajiv S. Magge
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wenzhen Zhu or Ilhami Kovanlikaya.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Shun Zhang.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

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Written informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board.

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Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.

Methodology

• retrospective

• observational

• performed at one institution

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Zhang, S., Chiang, G.CY., Magge, R.S. et al. Texture analysis on conventional MRI images accurately predicts early malignant transformation of low-grade gliomas. Eur Radiol 29, 2751–2759 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5921-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5921-1

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