Inferring FDG-PET-positivity of lymph node metastases in proven lung cancer from contrast-enhanced CT using radiomics and machine learning.

Background: We evaluated the role of radiomics applied to contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in the detection of lymph node (LN) metastases in patients with known lung cancer compared to F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/CT as a reference.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 381 patients with 1,799 lymph nodes (450 malignant, 1,349 negative). The data set was divided into a training and validation set.

Safety Analysis of Iobitridol as a Nonionic Contrast Medium: A Postmarketing Multicenter Surveillance Study With 94,960 Patients Almost 20 Years After Introduction.

Objectives: Our study sought to reevaluate the safety and diagnostic efficacy of iobitridol as a nonionic contrast medium after almost 20 years of use.

Materials And Methods: This noninterventional postmarketing surveillance noncontrolled, multicenter (168 centers in Germany) study enrolled 94,960 patients receiving intravenous or intra-arterial iobitridol. The majority of the adjusted population (n = 92,550, 98.

Intra-arterial therapy of neuroendocrine tumour liver metastases: comparing conventional TACE, drug-eluting beads TACE and yttrium-90 radioembolisation as treatment options using a propensity score analysis model.

Objectives: To compare efficacy, survival outcome and prognostic factors of conventional transarterial chemoembolisation (cTACE), drug-eluting beads TACE (DEB-TACE) and yttrium-90 radioembolisation (Y90) for the treatment of liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumours (NELM).

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 192 patients (58.6 years mean age, 56% men) with NELM treated with cTACE (N = 122), DEB-TACE (N = 26) or Y90 (N = 44) between 2000 and 2014.

Preclinical Benefit of Hypoxia-Activated Intra-arterial Therapy with Evofosfamide in Liver Cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate safety and characterize anticancer efficacy of hepatic hypoxia-activated intra-arterial therapy (HAIAT) with evofosfamide in a rabbit model.

Experimental Design: VX2-tumor-bearing rabbits were assigned to 4 intra-arterial therapy (IAT) groups (n = 7/group): (i) saline (control); (ii) evofosfamide (Evo); (iii) doxorubicin-lipiodol emulsion followed by embolization with 100-300 μm beads (conventional, cTACE); or (iv) cTACE and evofosfamide (cTACE + Evo). Blood samples were collected pre-IAT and 1, 2, 7, and 14 days post-IAT.

Improved Visibility of Metastatic Disease in the Liver During Intra-Arterial Therapy Using Delayed Arterial Phase Cone-Beam CT.

Purpose: To compare the visibility of liver metastases on dual-phase cone-beam CT (DP-CBCT) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA), with reference to preinterventional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) of the liver.

Methods: This IRB-approved, retrospective study included 28 patients with neuroendocrine (NELM), colorectal (CRCLM), or sarcoma (SLM) liver metastases who underwent DP-CBCT during intra-arterial therapy (IAT) between 01/2010 and 10/2014. DP-CBCT was acquired after a single contrast agent injection in the tumor-feeding arteries at early and delayed arterial phases (EAP and DAP).

Advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombosis: conventional versus drug-eluting beads transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Objectives: Our study sought to compare the overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal venous thrombosis (PVT), treated with either conventional trans-arterial chemoembolization (cTACE) or drug-eluting beads (DEB) TACE.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included a total of 133 patients, treated without cross-over and compared head-to-head by means or propensity score weighting. Mortality was compared using survival analysis upon propensity score weighting.

Aortic Valve Pathology in Patients Supported by Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device.

Background: Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVAD) may induce pathological changes to the aortic wall and aortic valve. We assessed histological changes in the relevant anatomic structures exposed to continuous flow over time and compared the histological results with clinical features in patients supported with CF-LVAD.

Methods and results: A retrospective histological analysis was performed of 38 explanted hearts supported with CF-LVAD from patients who received heart transplantation between July 2003 and February 2014.

90Y Radioembolization of Colorectal Hepatic Metastases Using Glass Microspheres: Safety and Survival Outcomes from a 531-Patient Multicenter Study.

Unlabelled: Hepatic metastases of colorectal carcinoma are a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Most colorectal liver metastases become refractory to chemotherapy and biologic agents, at which point the median overall survival declines to 4-5 mo. Radioembolization with (90)Y has been used in the salvage setting with favorable outcomes.

How I do it: a practical database management system to assist clinical research teams with data collection, organization, and reporting.

Rationale And Objectives: The objective of this study was to demonstrate that an intra-arterial liver therapy clinical research database system is a more workflow efficient and robust tool for clinical research than a spreadsheet storage system. The database system could be used to generate clinical research study populations easily with custom search and retrieval criteria.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire was designed and distributed to 21 board-certified radiologists to assess current data storage problems and clinician reception to a database management system.

Transarterial chemoembolization in soft-tissue sarcoma metastases to the liver - the use of imaging biomarkers as predictors of patient survival.

Background: The clinical management of patients with metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma of the liver is complicated by the paucity of reliable clinical data. This study evaluated the safety profile, survival outcome as well as the role of imaging biomarkers of tumor response in metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma (mSTS) of the liver treated with conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE).

Materials/methods: This retrospective analysis included 30 patients with mSTS of the liver treated with cTACE.

Identifying Staging Markers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma before Transarterial Chemoembolization: Comparison of Three-dimensional Quantitative versus Non-three-dimensional Imaging Markers.

Purpose To test and compare the association between radiologic measurements of lesion diameter, volume, and enhancement on baseline magnetic resonance (MR) images with overall survival and tumor response in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant retrospective, single-institution analysis was approved by the institutional review board, with waiver of informed consent. It included 79 patients with unresectable HCC who were treated with TACE.