Quantitative radiomics approach to assess acute radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 10; p. e0293071
• Main Authors: Park, So-Yeon, Park, Jong Min, Kim, Jung-In, Choi, Chang Heon, Chun, Minsoo, Chang, Ji Hyun, Kim, Jin Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.10.2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Breast - diagnostic imaging; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Breast Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Computer and Information Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Medicine and Health Sciences; Patient outcomes; Physical Sciences; Prospective Studies; Radiation; Radiodermatitis - diagnostic imaging; Radiotherapy; Research and Analysis Methods; Science Policy; Skin - diagnostic imaging; South Korea
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293071

We applied a radiomics approach to skin surface images to objectively assess acute radiation dermatitis in patients undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. A prospective cohort study of 20 patients was conducted. Skin surface images in normal, polarized, and ultraviolet (UV) modes were acquired using a skin analysis device before starting radiotherapy ('Before RT'), approximately 7 days after the first treatment ('RT D7'), on 'RT D14', and approximately 10 days after the radiotherapy ended ('After RT D10'). Eighteen types of radiomic feature ratios were calculated based on the values acquired 'Before RT'. We measured skin doses in ipsilateral breasts using optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters on the first day of radiotherapy. Clinical evaluation of acute radiation dermatitis was performed using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group scoring criteria on 'RT D14' and 'After RT D10'. Several statistical analysis methods were used in this study to test the performance of radiomic features as indicators of radiodermatitis evaluation. As the skin was damaged by radiation, the energy for normal mode and sum variance for polarized and UV modes decreased significantly for ipsilateral breasts, whereas contralateral breasts exhibited a smaller decrease with statistical significance. The radiomic feature ratios at 'RT D7' had strong correlations to skin doses and those at 'RT D14' and 'after RT D10' with statistical significance. The energy for normal mode and sum variance for polarized and UV modes demonstrated the potential to evaluate and predict acute radiation, which assists in its appropriate management.