Role of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Preoperative Assessment of Carcinoma Endometrium-a Retrospective Analysis

A Radiomic-Based Machine Learning Model Predicts Endometrial Cancer Recurrence Using Preoperative CT Radiomic Features: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Current prognostic models lack the use of pre-operative CT images to predict recurrence in endometrial cancer (EC) patients. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of radiomic features extracted from pre-surgical CT scans to accurately predict disease-free survival (DFS) among EC patients.

METHODS

Contrast-Enhanced CT (CE-CT) scans from 81 EC cases were used to extract the radiomic features from semi-automatically contoured volumes of interest. We employed a 10-fold cross-validation approach with a 6:4 training to test set and utilized data augmentation and balancing techniques. Univariate analysis was applied for feature reduction leading to the development of three distinct machine learning (ML) models for the prediction of DFS: LASSO-Cox, CoxBoost and Random Forest (RFsrc).

RESULTS

In the training set, the ML models demonstrated AUCs ranging from 0.92 to 0.93, sensitivities from 0.96 to 1.00 and specificities from 0.77 to 0.89. In the test set, AUCs ranged from 0.86 to 0.90, sensitivities from 0.89 to 1.00 and specificities from 0.73 to 0.90. Patients classified as having a high recurrence risk prediction by ML models exhibited significantly worse DSF (p-value < 0.001) across all models.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrate the potential of radiomics in predicting EC recurrence. While further validation studies are needed, our results underscore the promising role of radiomics in forecasting EC outcomes.

Application of CT and MRI combined with VEGF-C and EGFR in the identification of endometrial cancer stages

OBJECTIVE

To explore the application of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the identification of endometrial cancer stages.

METHODS

Clinical data of 84 patients with endometrial cancer who underwent surgery in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Before surgery, they were received inspection by CT and MRI and examination by VEGF-C and EGFR measurement. The pathological results after surgery were used as the gold standard, which was applied to compare the diagnostic accuracy of endometrial cancer stages by CT, MRI, and CT+MRI and to analyze how VEGF-C and EGFR expression and CT+MRI diagnosis correlated with relevant pathological parameters.

RESULTS

Using pathological results as the gold standard, the diagnostic accuracy of endometrial cancer stages via CT+MRI combined with VEGF-C+EGFR immunostaining was significantly higher (96.43%) compared with CT+MRI, CT, and MRI (91.67%, 70.24%, and 77.38%, respectively) (P<0.05). The positive rates of VEGF-C and EGFR expression in patients with different endometrial cancer stages identified by CT+MRI were significantly different (P<0.05). Spearman's rank correlation coefficient showed that the positive rates of VEGF-C and EGFR expression were both positively correlated with CT+MRI identified stages (r>0, P<0.05). The accuracy of CT+MRI diagnosed lymph node metastasis, myometrial infiltration, and interstitial infiltration was 90.48%, 92.86%, and 84.52%, respectively. The positive rates of VEGF-C and EGFR expression were significantly higher by lymph node metastasis compared with non-metastasis; the positive rates of VEGF-C and EGFR expression were significantly higher by deep myometrial infiltration compared with superficial infiltration; the positive rates of VEGF-C and EGFR expression were significantly higher by interstitial infiltration compared with no interstitial infiltration (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

CT and MRI combined with VEGF-C and EGFR can effectively identify endometrial cancer stages.

ESGO/ESTRO/ESP guidelines for the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma

A European consensus conference on endometrial carcinoma was held in 2014 to produce multidisciplinary evidence-based guidelines on selected questions. Given the large body of literature on the management of endometrial carcinoma published since 2014, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) jointly decided to update these evidence-based guidelines and to cover new topics in order to improve the quality of care for women with endometrial carcinoma across Europe and worldwide. ESGO/ESTRO/ESP nominated an international multidisciplinary development group consisting of practicing clinicians and researchers who have demonstrated leadership and expertise in the care and research of endometrial carcinoma (27 experts across Europe). To ensure that the guidelines are evidence-based, the literature published since 2014, identified from a systematic search was reviewed and critically appraised. In the absence of any clear scientific evidence, judgment was based on the professional experience and consensus of the development group. The guidelines are thus based on the best available evidence and expert agreement. Prior to publication, the guidelines were reviewed by 191 independent international practitioners in cancer care delivery and patient representatives. The guidelines comprehensively cover endometrial carcinoma staging, definition of prognostic risk groups integrating molecular markers, pre- and intra-operative work-up, fertility preservation, management for early, advanced, metastatic, and recurrent disease and palliative treatment. Principles of radiotherapy and pathological evaluation are also defined.

Value of preoperative staging of endometrial carcinoma with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography: A PRISMA compliant meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the most common gynecologic carcinoma in developed countries and accounts for nearly 5% of carcinoma cases and more than 2% of deaths due to female carcinomas worldwide. Because of this reported risk, it is very important to diagnose and stage it accurately. Therefore, we investigated the staging accuracy of EC with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS). Due to a lack of studies on the use of CEUS in staging EC, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHOD

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and CBM for studies on CEUS in EC diagnosis. Our search keywords were "ultrasonic angiography," "endometrial neoplasms," and their synonyms. The studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 4 tabular data were extracted. Quality evaluation was performed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) scale. Statistical analysis was done with Stata version 15.1. A random effect model was selected to calculate the pooled sensitivity and specificity. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was obtained, and the area under the curve was calculated.

RESULT

Fifteen studies with 685 patients were included in this quantitative synthesis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio (OR) of CEUS in the diagnosis of EC was 0.81 (95% confidence interval, .76-.85), .90 (.87-.92), 8 (5.8-11.1), .21 (.16-.28), and 38 (22-67), respectively. The area under the curve was 0.93 (.90-.95).

CONCLUSION

CEUS has a high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of EC. It can be considered as an effective and feasible method for EC staging.

ESGO/ESTRO/ESP Guidelines for the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma

A European consensus conference on endometrial carcinoma was held in 2014 to produce multidisciplinary evidence-based guidelines on selected questions. Given the large body of literature on the management of endometrial carcinoma published since 2014, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) jointly decided to update these evidence-based guidelines and to cover new topics in order to improve the quality of care for women with endometrial carcinoma across Europe and worldwide. ESGO/ESTRO/ESP nominated an international multidisciplinary development group consisting of practicing clinicians and researchers who have demonstrated leadership and expertise in the care and research of endometrial carcinoma (27 experts across Europe). To ensure that the guidelines are evidence-based, the literature published since 2014, identified from a systematic search was reviewed and critically appraised. In the absence of any clear scientific evidence, judgment was based on the professional experience and consensus of the development group. The guidelines are thus based on the best available evidence and expert agreement. Prior to publication, the guidelines were reviewed by 191 independent international practitioners in cancer care delivery and patient representatives. The guidelines comprehensively cover endometrial carcinoma staging, definition of prognostic risk groups integrating molecular markers, pre- and intra-operative work-up, fertility preservation, management for early, advanced, metastatic, and recurrent disease and palliative treatment. Principles of radiotherapy and pathological evaluation are also defined.

ESGO/ESTRO/ESP guidelines for the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma

A European consensus conference on endometrial carcinoma was held in 2014 to produce multi-disciplinary evidence-based guidelines on selected questions. Given the large body of literature on the management of endometrial carcinoma published since 2014, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) jointly decided to update these evidence-based guidelines and to cover new topics in order to improve the quality of care for women with endometrial carcinoma across Europe and worldwide.