Computed tomography radiomics-based distinction of invasive adenocarcinoma from minimally invasive adenocarcinoma manifesting as pure ground-glass nodules with bubble-like signs

Background To explore an effective model based on radiomics features extracted from nonenhanced computed tomography (CT) images to distinguish invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC) from minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) presenting as pure ground-glass nodules (pGGNs) with bubble-like (B-pGGNs) signs. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed 511 nodules (MIA, n = 288; IAC, n = 223) between November 2012 and June 2018 from almost all pGGNs pathologically confirmed MIA or IAC. Eventually, a total of 109 B-pGGNs (MIA, n = 55; IAC, n = 54) from 109 patients fulfilling the criteria were randomly assigned to the training and test cluster at a ratio of 7:3. The gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) method and logistic regression (LR) analysis were applied to feature selection (radiomics, semantic, and conventional CT features). LR was performed to construct three models (the conventional, radiomics and combined model). The performance of the predictive models was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC). Results The radiomics model had good AUCs of 0.947 in the training cluster and of 0.945 in the test cluster. The combined model produced an AUC of 0.953 in the training cluster and of 0.945 in the test cluster. The combined model yielded no performance improvement (vs. the radiomics model). The rad_score was the only independent predictor of invasiveness. Conclusion The radiomics model showed excellent predictive performance in discriminating IAC from MIA presenting as B-pGGNs and may provide a necessary reference for extending clinical practice.