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Genetic research

Radiomics-Based Prediction of T Cell-Inflamed Gene Expression Profile and Prognosis in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A recent study published in the journal Medical Physics has provided new insights into the management of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Research conducted at the Affiliated BenQ Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in Jiangsu, People's Republic of China, has developed a radiomics-based model to predict the T cell-inflamed gene expression profile (GEP) and immunotherapeutic responses in HNSCC patients. The study aimed to identify a noninvasive alternative for integrating imaging features with GEP in HNSCC, which has a poor prognosis and variable response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study developed a radiomics-based model using computed tomography images from The Cancer Imaging Archive to predict the GEP and immunotherapeutic responses in HNSCC patients.
  • The model demonstrated strong clinical utility, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.827 and 0.774 in the training and validation sets, respectively.
  • A high GEP score was found to be a protective factor for overall survival (OS) in HNSCC patients, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.692 and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.501-0.956 (p = 0.026).
  • Radiomics scores (RS) were higher in GEP-high patients, indicating that patients with high RS may benefit from immunotherapy.
  • Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), immune gene expression profiling, mutation analysis, immune infiltration assessment, and immunophenoscore (IPS) evaluation were conducted to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying differences in GEP and RS.

Statistics:

  • Area under the curve (AUC) for the radiomics-based model: 0.827 (training set)
  • AUC for the radiomics-based model (validation set): 0.774
  • Hazard ratio (HR) for high GEP score: 0.692
  • 95% confidence interval (CI) for HR: 0.501-0.956
  • p-value for high GEP score: 0.026
  • Percentage of patients with high RS: not specified

Sources:

  • Medical Physics, 2025;52(8)
  • NewsRx. Research Conducted at Affiliated BenQ Hospital of Nanjing Medical University Has Provided New Information about Head and Neck Cancer (Radiomics-based prediction of T cell-inflamed gene expression profile and prognosis in head and neck squamous ...). Cancer Weekly. August 26, 2025; p 3871.
  • Affiliated BenQ Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
  • The Cancer Genome Atlas
  • The Cancer Imaging Archive
  • American Association of Physicists in Medicine - www.aapm.org
  • Medical Physics - online.medphys.org/

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