Study of radiochemotherapy decision-making for young high-risk low-grade glioma patients using a macroscopic and microscopic combined radiomics model

Objectives As a few types of glioma, young high-risk low-grade gliomas (HRLGGs) have higher requirements for postoperative quality of life. Although adjuvant chemotherapy with delayed radiotherapy is the first treatment strategy for HRLGGs, not all HRLGGs benefit from it. Accurate assessment of chemosensitivity in HRLGGs is vital for making treatment choices. This study developed a multimodal fusion radiomics (MFR) model to support radiochemotherapy decision-making for HRLGGs. Methods A MFR model combining macroscopic MRI and microscopic pathological images was proposed. Multiscale features including macroscopic tumor structure and microscopic histological layer and nuclear information were grabbed by unique paradigm, respectively. Then, these features were adaptively incorporated into the MFR model through attention mechanism to predict the chemosensitivity of temozolomide (TMZ) by means of objective response rate and progression free survival (PFS). Results Macroscopic tumor texture complexity and microscopic nuclear size showed significant statistical differences ( p < 0.001) between sensitivity and insensitivity groups. The MFR model achieved stable prediction results, with an area under the curve of 0.950 (95% CI: 0.942–0.958), sensitivity of 0.833 (95% CI: 0.780–0.848), specificity of 0.929 (95% CI: 0.914–0.936), positive predictive value of 0.833 (95% CI: 0.811–0.860), and negative predictive value of 0.929 (95% CI: 0.914–0.934). The predictive efficacy of MFR was significantly higher than that of the reported molecular markers ( p < 0.001). MFR was also demonstrated to be a predictor of PFS. Conclusions A MFR model including radiomics and pathological features predicts accurately the response postoperative TMZ treatment. Clinical relevance statement Our MFR model could identify young high-risk low-grade glioma patients who can have the most benefit from postoperative upfront temozolomide (TMZ) treatment. Key Points • Multimodal radiomics is proposed to support the radiochemotherapy of glioma. • Some macro and micro image markers related to tumor chemotherapy sensitivity are revealed. • The proposed model surpasses reported molecular markers, with a promising area under the curve (AUC) of 0.95.