Using Machine Learning to Predict Response to Image-guided Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Interventional oncology is a rapidly growing field with advances in minimally invasive image-guided local-regional treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including transarterial chemoembolization, transarterial radioembolization, and thermal ablation. However, current standardized clinical staging systems for HCC are limited in their ability to optimize patient selection for treatment as they rely primarily on serum markers and radiologist-defined imaging features. Given the variation in treatment responses, an updated scoring system that includes multidimensional aspects of the disease, including quantitative imaging features, serum markers, and functional biomarkers, is needed to optimally triage patients. With the vast amounts of numerical medical record data and imaging features, researchers have turned to image-based methods, such as radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI), to automatically extract and process multidimensional data from images. The synthesis of these data can provide clinically relevant results to guide personalized treatment plans and optimize resource utilization. Machine learning (ML) is a branch of AI in which a model learns from training data and makes effective predictions by teaching itself. This review article outlines the basics of ML and provides a comprehensive overview of its potential value in the prediction of treatment response in patients with HCC after minimally invasive image-guided therapy.