Radiomics: The New Promise for Differentiating Progression, Recurrence, Pseudoprogression, and Radionecrosis in Glioma and Glioblastoma Multiforme

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Progression/recurrence, pseudoprogression, and radionecrosis are all scenarios that can be expected during the treatment course of glioma and GBM. Although MRI, PET, CT, and MRS have shown some capabilities in differentiating these conditions, there is still a considerable need for the emergence of state-of-the-art techniques to assist field professionals. Here, we introduce radiomics, a process that extracts many features from medical images using data characterization algorithms and a promising tool to differentiate these scenarios. The results could significantly impact patients’ care by enhancing the understanding and accuracy of post-treatment follow-ups in brain cancer patients. ABSTRACT: Glioma and glioblastoma multiform (GBM) remain among the most debilitating and life-threatening brain tumors. Despite advances in diagnosing approaches, patient follow-up after treatment (surgery and chemoradiation) is still challenging for differentiation between tumor progression/recurrence, pseudoprogression, and radionecrosis. Radiomics emerges as a promising tool in initial diagnosis, grading, and survival prediction in patients with glioma and can help differentiate these post-treatment scenarios. Preliminary published studies are promising about the role of radiomics in post-treatment glioma/GBM. However, this field faces significant challenges, including a lack of evidence-based solid data, scattering publication, heterogeneity of studies, and small sample sizes. The present review explores radiomics’s capabilities in following patients with glioma/GBM status post-treatment and to differentiate tumor progression, recurrence, pseudoprogression, and radionecrosis.