Comparison of radiomic features in diagnostic CT images with and without contrast enhancement in the delayed phase for NSCLC patients.

Abstract Purpose To compare radiomic features extracted from diagnostic computed tomography (CT) images with and without contrast enhancement in delayed phase for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods Diagnostic CT images from 269 tumors [non-contrast CT, 188 (dataset NE); contrast-enhanced CT, 81 (dataset CE)] were enrolled in this study. Eighteen first-order and seventy-five texture features were extracted by setting five bin width levels for CT values. Reproducible features were selected by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Radiomic features were compared between datasets NE and CE. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the CT acquisition period, exposure value, and patient characteristics. Results Eighty features were considered reproducible (0.5 ≤ ICC). Twelve of the sixteen first-order features, independent of the bin width levels, were statistically different between datasets NE and CE (p  Conclusions Contrast enhancement in the delayed phase of CT images for NSCLC patients affected some of the radiomic features and the variability of radiomic features due to contrast uptake may depend largely on the patient characteristics.