A CT-based radiomics nomogram for prediction of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status in patients with gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics nomogram for predicting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: This retrospective study included 134 patients with gastric cancer (HER2-negative: n=87; HER2-positive: n=47) from April 2013 to March 2018, who were then randomly divided into training (n=94) and validation (n=40) cohorts. Radiomics features were obtained from the CT images showing gastric cancer. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was utilized for building the radiomics signature. A multivariable logistic regression method was applied to develop a prediction model incorporating the radiomics signature and independent clinicopathologic risk predictors, which were then visualized as a radiomics nomogram. The predictive performance of the nomogram was assessed in the training and validation cohorts. RESULTS: The radiomics signature was significantly associated with HER2 status in both training (P<0.001) and validation (P=0.023) cohorts. The prediction model that incorporated the radiomics signature and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level demonstrated good discriminative performance for HER2 status prediction, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.799 [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.704−0.894] in the training cohort and 0.771 (95% CI: 0.607−0.934) in the validation cohort. The calibration curve of the radiomics nomogram also showed good calibration. Decision curve analysis showed that the radiomics nomogram was useful. CONCLUSIONS: We built and validated a radiomics nomogram with good performance for HER2 status prediction in gastric cancer. This radiomics nomogram could serve as a non-invasive tool to predict HER2 status and guide clinical treatment.