MRI-based deep learning and radiomics for prediction of occult cervical lymph node metastasis and prognosis in early-stage oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a diagnostic study

Introduction: The incidence of occult cervical lymph node metastases (OCLNM) is reported to be 20–30% in early-stage oral cancer and oropharyngeal cancer. There is a lack of an accurate diagnostic method to predict occult lymph node metastasis and to help surgeons make precise treatment decisions. Aim: To construct and evaluate a preoperative diagnostic method to predict OCLNM in early-stage oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OC and OP SCC) based on deep learning features (DLFs) and radiomics features. Methods: A total of 319 patients diagnosed with early-stage OC or OP SCC were retrospectively enrolled and divided into training, test and external validation sets. Traditional radiomics features and DLFs were extracted from their MRI images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis was employed to identify the most valuable features. Prediction models for OCLNM were developed using radiomics features and DLFs. The effectiveness of the models and their clinical applicability were evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC), decision curve analysis (DCA), and survival analysis. Results: Seventeen prediction models were constructed. The Resnet50 deep learning (DL) model based on the combination of radiomics and DL features achieves the optimal performance, with AUC values of 0.928 (95% CI: 0.881–0.975), 0.878 (95% CI: 0.766–0.990), 0.796 (95% CI: 0.666–0.927), and 0.834 (95% CI: 0.721–0.947) in the training, test, external validation set1, and external validation set2, respectively. Moreover, the Resnet50 model has great prediction value of prognosis in patients with early-stage OC and OP SCC. Conclusion: The proposed MRI-based Resnet50 DL model demonstrated high capability in diagnosis of OCLNM and prognosis prediction in the early-stage OC and OP SCC. The Resnet50 model could help refine the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the early-stage OC and OP SCC.