Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI differentiates hepatocellular carcinoma from hepatic metastasis of rectal cancer by extracting pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features

The aim of the present study was to explore how dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) may differentiate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from hepatic metastasis of rectal cancer (HMRC) by extracting pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features. A total of 75 patients, including 41 cases with HCC and 34 cases with HMRC, underwent DCE-MRI examination. Dual-input two-compartment extended Tofts tracer kinetic model attached to a specialized image post-processing software package from OmniKinetics; GE Healthcare was used to calculate the values of the pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features, which were extracted from the lesions at the same region of interest. These values were evaluated using Student's t-test and receiver operating characteristic curves, and discriminant models were built to differentiate between HCC and HRMC. The results identified statistically significant differences in the values of the pharmacokinetic parameters hepatic perfusion index (HPI), endothelial transfer constant (Ktrans), initial area under the gadolinium concentration curve during the first 60 sec (IAUC) between the HCC and HRMC groups. In addition, statistically significant differences in 17 radiomic features were observed between the two groups (P