T staging with functional and radiomics parameters of computed tomography in colorectal cancer patients

Preoperative T staging is closely related to operation planning and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to re-investigate the value of computed tomography (CT) in T stage evaluation of CRC patients with both functional and radiomics parameters. The functional and radiomics parameters of CT images and the clinical information were collected from 32 CRC patients. The radiomics parameters were measured based on manually labelled 5-mm circles using software Syngo. The radiomics parameters were computed based on labelled tumor regions using Python software package. A total of 125 parameters were collected and analyzed by using decision tree analysis. The decision tree analysis identified 6 rules. Based on the rules, the shape elongation, flow extraction of nodule and blood volume of tumor region were found to be of significance and could define a high-risk group and a low-risk group. This study shows the combination of functional parameters and radiomics parameters of CT is helpful for the diagnosis and T staging of CRC.