Three‐dimensional assessment of tongue cancer prognosis by preoperative MRI

To obtain the relative volume by measuring the tongue volume and the lesion volume, and further explore its relationship with the prognosis of patients, hoping to supplement the TNM staging with a new index.ITK-SANP software was used to outline the patients' MRI. After MRI reconstruction and measurement, slicer software was used to estimate tumor volume.A total of 64 patients with tongue cancer who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The estimated tumor volume after MRI reconstruction revealed a significant and robust correlation with tumor stage (p < 0.05, Rs = 0.6207) and a substantial and medium correlation with early lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05, Rs = 0.4873).We classified tongue cancer into three grades based on tumor volume (Stage I, tumors smaller than 1500 mm³; Stage II, tumors 1500-9000 mm³; and Stage III, tumors larger than 9000 mm³), and such grading could be used as a reference for tumor staging, lymph node metastasis, and patient prognosis to a certain extent.