Interplay between MRI radiomics and immune gene expression signatures in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011-

Magnetic Resonance Imaging*/methods ; Mouth Neoplasms*/genetics ; Mouth Neoplasms*/diagnostic imaging ; Mouth Neoplasms*/immunology ; Mouth Neoplasms*/pathology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*/genetics ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*/immunology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*/diagnostic imaging ; Transcriptome* ; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck*/immunology ; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck*/genetics ; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck*/diagnostic imaging; Humans ; Tumor Microenvironment/immunology ; Tumor Microenvironment/genetics ; Female ; Male ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics ; Aged ; Radiomics

Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The protocols were approved by the Ethical Committees of the participating centers, and data acquisition followed the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU. All patients signed the informed consent. Consent for publication: All authors have read and approved the manuscript and agree with submission.
With the advances in immunotherapy and the challenge of poor responsiveness in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients, understanding the tumor microenvironment is crucial. Radiogenomics offers the potential to provide pre-operative, non-invasive image-derived immune biomarkers. To this aim, the present study explores the capability of MRI-based radiomics to describe patients' immune state in OSCC. Seven MRI-based radiomic, 29 immune-related gene expression signatures were computed and deconvolution analysis was performed for a subset of OSCC from the BD2Decide database. A correlation-driven analysis identified key associations between radiomic and immune-related signatures and cell populations. Radiomic classifiers of the gene expression signatures were then developed to evaluate their capability to stratify patients based on immune status. MRI-based radiomic models showed promising results in predicting a gene expression signature associated with significant prognostic value for HNSCC patients who underwent radiotherapy (AUC = 0.92), suggesting these models' potential in distinguishing radioresistant from radiosensitive patients, aiding treatment decisions. Additionally, radiomic signatures reflected immune infiltrating cells in our cohort (M1, CD8 + T, B cells). MRI-radiomic signatures and associated models could become non-invasive methods to evaluate the prognosis and treatment choice in OSCC patients. Based on our promising results, and upon external validation, MRI-radiomics could enhance personalized medicine approaches.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)

Front Genet. 2021 Jun 18;12:570336. (PMID: 34220923)
Head Neck. 2021 Jan;43(1):182-197. (PMID: 33009692)
Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2020 Sep 4;21:299-314. (PMID: 32622331)
Life Sci. 2020 Sep 1;256:117906. (PMID: 32504750)
Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan;39(Database issue):D52-7. (PMID: 21115458)
Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 16;14(1):6390. (PMID: 38493212)
Med Sci Monit. 2019 Jun 16;25:4485-4494. (PMID: 31203306)
Lancet Oncol. 2018 Sep;19(9):1180-1191. (PMID: 30120041)
Biomark Res. 2023 Jul 16;11(1):69. (PMID: 37455307)
Cancer Res. 2017 Nov 1;77(21):e104-e107. (PMID: 29092951)
Entropy (Basel). 2021 Jun 16;23(6):. (PMID: 34208552)
Front Oncol. 2021 Nov 29;11:788671. (PMID: 34912722)
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2023 Jul;280(7):3353-3364. (PMID: 36920557)
Dis Markers. 2021 Nov 09;2021:1571421. (PMID: 34840626)
Ann Transl Med. 2021 Oct;9(20):1554. (PMID: 34790760)
Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Apr 17;13(8):11507-11527. (PMID: 33867351)
Nature. 2015 Jan 29;517(7536):576-82. (PMID: 25631445)
Eur Radiol. 2022 Mar;32(3):1548-1557. (PMID: 34665315)
Front Immunol. 2022 Jul 08;13:905635. (PMID: 35874705)
CA Cancer J Clin. 2024 May-Jun;74(3):229-263. (PMID: 38572751)
Front Mol Biosci. 2022 Feb 18;9:833771. (PMID: 35252353)
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Aug 05;9:687245. (PMID: 34422810)
Eur J Radiol. 2022 Jan;146:110093. (PMID: 34890937)
Ecol Evol. 2019 Nov 19;9(23):13231-13243. (PMID: 31871641)
Front Oncol. 2022 Oct 20;12:1021609. (PMID: 36338731)
Radiother Oncol. 2023 Jun;183:109638. (PMID: 37004837)
J Oncol. 2019 Dec 13;2019:3865279. (PMID: 31911802)
Front Genet. 2022 Jul 22;13:938611. (PMID: 35938006)
Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Jan 1;27(1):330-341. (PMID: 33097495)
J Oncol. 2022 Feb 07;2022:5286251. (PMID: 35178089)
Curr Oncol Rep. 2020 Jun 29;22(8):81. (PMID: 32602047)
Curr Oncol Rep. 2018 Mar 3;20(2):22. (PMID: 29502288)
Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Dec 14;8:775562. (PMID: 34970597)
Front Mol Biosci. 2020 Nov 24;7:586344. (PMID: 33330624)
Front Immunol. 2022 Feb 03;13:809872. (PMID: 35185897)
BMC Cancer. 2022 May 24;22(1):577. (PMID: 35610596)
J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;45(4):629-636. (PMID: 34519454)
Br J Radiol. 2018 Jun;91(1086):20170498. (PMID: 29451412)
Front Immunol. 2022 Nov 15;13:1015436. (PMID: 36458007)
Head Neck. 2021 Feb;43(2):601-612. (PMID: 33107152)
Front Oncol. 2021 Jul 30;11:710694. (PMID: 34395285)
Eur J Radiol. 2021 Jun;139:109701. (PMID: 33865064)
Acta Oncol. 2021 Sep;60(9):1192-1200. (PMID: 34038324)
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Dec 12;14(24):. (PMID: 36551604)
Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 6;12(1):16755. (PMID: 36202941)
Cancer Treat Rev. 2021 Sep;99:102263. (PMID: 34343892)
Strahlenther Onkol. 2020 Oct;196(10):868-878. (PMID: 32495038)
J Hematol Oncol. 2018 Aug 16;11(1):104. (PMID: 30115069)
Front Immunol. 2024 Apr 08;15:1337129. (PMID: 38650924)
IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2010 Jun;29(6):1310-20. (PMID: 20378467)
Front Oncol. 2022 Jan 11;11:739182. (PMID: 35087741)
Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 14;10(1):6395. (PMID: 32286381)
Cancer Cell. 2023 Mar 13;41(3):374-403. (PMID: 36917948)
Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Jul 15;26(14):3616-3628. (PMID: 32161122)
Head Neck. 2023 Apr;45(4):849-861. (PMID: 36779382)
Front Immunol. 2023 Oct 05;14:1233085. (PMID: 37868967)
Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1711:243-259. (PMID: 29344893)
Front Oncol. 2022 Apr 05;12:795781. (PMID: 35449571)
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 24;14(1):9451. (PMID: 38658630)
Clin Transl Med. 2021 Feb;11(2):e343. (PMID: 33634968)
Nat Rev Cancer. 2023 Mar;23(3):173-188. (PMID: 36456755)
J Immunol Res. 2021 Jan 08;2021:6661625. (PMID: 33506058)
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2021 Feb 09;19:1263-1276. (PMID: 33717423)
J Clin Oncol. 2023 Feb 10;41(5):1132-1146. (PMID: 36521102)
Eur Radiol. 2022 Aug;32(8):5362-5370. (PMID: 35298679)
Int J Gen Med. 2022 May 09;15:4793-4805. (PMID: 35592543)
Oral Oncol. 2020 Nov;110:104877. (PMID: 32619927)

PNC0000003 National Plan for NRRP Complementary Investments; IG23573 Associazione Italiana Ricerca Cancro

Keywords: Cluster analysis; Head and neck cancer; Magnetic resonance imaging; Radiogenomic; Radiomic features; Transcriptomic signatures; Tumor microenvironment

0 (Biomarkers, Tumor)

Date Created: 20250412 Date Completed: 20250412 Latest Revision: 20250415

20250415

PMC11993570

10.1038/s41598-025-96821-x

40221527