Radiomics model based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography to predict early recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after radical resection

BACKGROUND Radical resection remains an effective strategy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Unfortunately,the postoperative early recurrence(recurrence within 2 years)rate is still high.AIM To develop a radiomics model based on preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CECT)to evaluate early recurrence in HCC patients with a single tumour.METHODS We enrolled a total of 402 HCC patients from two centres who were diagnosed with a single tumour and underwent radical resection.First,the features from the portal venous and arterial phases of CECT were extracted based on the region of interest,and the early recurrence-related radiomics features were selected via the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator proportional hazards model(LASSO Cox)to determine radiomics scores for each patient.Then,the clinicopathologic data were combined to develop a model to predict early recurrence by Cox regression.Finally,we evaluated the prediction performance of this model by multiple methods.RESULTS A total of 1915 radiomics features were extracted from CECT images,and 31 of them were used to determine the radiomics scores,which showed a significant difference between the early recurrence and nonearly recurrence groups.Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that radiomics scores and serum alphafetoprotein were independent indicators,and they were used to develop a combined model to predict early recurrence.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values for the training and validation cohorts were 0.77 and 0.74,respectively,while the C-indices were 0.712 and 0.674,respectively.The calibration curves and decision curve analysis showed satisfactory accuracy and clinical utilities.Kaplan-Meier curves based on recurrence-free survival and overall survival showed significant differences.CONCLUSION The preoperative radiomics model was shown to be effective for predicting early recurrence among HCC patients with a single tumour.

Novel index for the prediction of significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B patients in China

BACKGROUND Noninvasive,practical,and convenient means of detection for the prediction of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in China are greatly needed.AIM To develop a precise noninvasive test to stage liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.METHODS With liver biopsy as the gold standard,we established a new index,[alkaline phosphatase(U/L)+gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase(U/L)/platelet(109/L)(AGPR)],to predict liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.In addition,we compared the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUROC)of AGPR,gammaglutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio,aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index,and FIB-4 and evaluated the accuracy of these routine laboratory indices in predicting liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.RESULTS Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between AGPR and liver fibrosis stage(P<0.001).In the training cohort,the AUROC of AGPR was 0.83(95%CI:0.78-0.87)for predicting fibrosis(≥F2),0.84(95%CI:0.79-0.88)for predicting extensive fibrosis(≥F3),and 0.87(95%CI:0.83-0.91)for predicting cirrhosis(F4).In the validation cohort,the AUROCs of AGPR to predict≥F2,≥F3 and F4 were 0.83(95%CI:0.77-0.88),0.83(95%CI:0.77-0.89),and 0.84(95%CI:0.78-0.89),respectively.CONCLUSION The AGPR index should become a new,simple,accurate,and noninvasive marker to predict liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B patients.

Responses of bacterial community to potential heap construction methods of fine-grained copper tailings in column bioleaching system

The column bioleaching of copper flotation tailings was comparatively investigated using layered heap construction method(LM),agglomerate heap construction method(AM),and pellets-sintering heap construction method(PM).The bacterial communities of free,attached,weakly-attached,and strongly-attached microbes in the later bioleaching stage were investigated.In AM group,the addition of lump sulphide ore resulted in the low leachate pH,high ferric iron concentration,and rapid microbial adsorption,which obtained the maximum copper extraction(60.1%)compared with LM(54.6%)and PM(43.9%)groups.The relative abundance of dominant genera and microbial communities of different microbiota underwent changes in three heap construction methods.The alpha-diversity indexes of attached,weakly-attached,and strongly-attached microbes were different,while no significant change was observed in free bacteria.The variation of whole bacterial community was significantly associated with solution pH,total iron,and ferric iron concentrations.Pearson correlation analysis and partial least square path model both indicated that attached bacteria made larger contribution to the copper extraction of tailings.