A CT-based deep learning-driven tool for automatic liver tumor detection and delineation in patients with cancer
Maria Balaguer‐Montero, Adrià Marcos Morales, Marta Ligero, Christina Zatse, David Leiva, Luz M. Atlagich, Nikolaos Staikoglou, Cristina Viaplana, Camilo Monreal, Joaquı́n Mateo, Jorge Hernando, Alejandro García‐Álvarez, Francesc Salvà, Jaume Capdevila, Elena Élez, Rodrigo Dienstmann, Elena Garralda, Raquel Pérez-López
Abstract
Liver tumors, whether primary or metastatic, significantly impact the outcomes of patients with cancer. Accurate identification and quantification are crucial for effective patient management, including precise diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy evaluation. We present SALSA (system for automatic liver tumor segmentation and detection), a fully automated tool for liver tumor detection and delineation. Developed on 1,598 computed tomography (CT) scans and 4,908 liver tumors, SALSA demonstrates superior accuracy in tumor identification and volume quantification, outperforming state-of-the-art models and inter-reader agreement among expert radiologists. SALSA achieves a patient-wise detection precision of 99.65%, and 81.72% at lesion level, in the external validation cohorts. Additionally, it exhibits good overlap, achieving a dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.760, outperforming both state-of-the-art and the inter-radiologist assessment. SALSA’s automatic quantification of tumor volume proves to have prognostic value across various solid tumors ( p = 0.028). SALSA’s robust capabilities position it as a potential medical device for automatic cancer detection, staging, and response evaluation. • Quantifying liver tumors is crucial for cancer diagnosis and treatment planning • SALSA is a fully automated tool for precise liver tumor detection and delineation • SALSA surpasses state-of-the-art models and the radiologists’ inter-reader agreement • SALSA can arguably enhance cancer detection, treatment planning, and response evaluation Balaguer-Montero et al. present SALSA (system for automatic liver tumor segmentation and detection), a fully automated tool for liver tumor delineation. SALSA outperforms state-of-the-art models and expert radiologist agreement, enabling efficient and reliable liver tumor assessment.