Prediction of early recurrence of HCC after hepatectomy by contrast-enhanced ultrasound-based deep learning radiomics

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the predictive model based on deep learning (DL) and radiomics features from contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to predict early recurrence (ER) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: One hundred seventy-two patients with HCC who underwent hepatectomy and followed up for at least 1 year were included in this retrospective study. The data were divided according to the 7:3 ratios of training and test data. The ResNet-50 architecture, CEUS-based radiomics, and the combined model were used to predict the early recurrence of HCC after hepatectomy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calibration curve were drawn to evaluate its diagnostic efficiency. RESULTS: The CEUS-based radiomics ROCs of the “training set” and “test set” were 0.774 and 0.763, respectively. The DL model showed increased prognostic value, the ROCs of the “training set” and “test set” were 0.885 and 0.834, respectively. The combined model ROCs of the “training set” and “test set” were 0.943 and 0.882, respectively. CONCLUSION: The deep learning radiomics model integrating DL and radiomics features from CEUS was used to predict ER and achieve satisfactory performance. Its diagnostic efficiency is significantly better than that of the single model.