An integrated radiomics nomogram based on conventional ultrasound improves discriminability between fibroadenoma and pure mucinous carcinoma in breast.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of integrated radiomics nomogram based on ultrasound images to distinguish between breast fibroadenoma (FA) and pure mucinous carcinoma (P-MC).

Methods: One hundred seventy patients with FA or P-MC (120 in the training set and 50 in the test set) with definite pathological confirmation were retrospectively enrolled. Four hundred sixty-four radiomics features were extracted from conventional ultrasound (CUS) images, and radiomics score (Radscore) was constructed using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) algorithm. Different models were developed by a support vector machine (SVM), and the diagnostic performance of the different models was assessed and validated. A comparison of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) was performed to evaluate the incremental value of the different models.

Results: Finally, 11 radiomics features were selected, and then Radscore was developed based on them, which was higher in P-MC in both cohorts. In the test group, the clinic + CUS + radiomics (Clin + CUS + Radscore) model achieved a significantly higher area under the curve (AUC) value (AUC = 0.86, 95% CI, 0.733-0.942) when compared with the clinic + radiomics (Clin + Radscore) (AUC = 0.76, 95% CI, 0.618-0.869, > 0.05), clinic + CUS (Clin + CUS) (AUC = 0.76, 95% CI, 0.618-0.869, < 0.05), Clin (AUC = 0.74, 95% CI, 0.600-0.854, 0.05), and Radscore (AUC = 0.64, 95% CI, 0.492-0.771, < 0.05) models, respectively. The calibration curve and DCA also suggested excellent clinical value of the combined nomogram.

Conclusion: The combined Clin + CUS + Radscore model may help improve the differentiation of FA from P-MC.