Perspective] Delta Radiomics — Potential Role in Head Neck Cancer

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Delta radiomics is a tool used to assess the response of oncologic patients undergoing immunotherapy. It extracts high-dimensional quantitative features from medical images, providing information about cancer's phenotype, genotype, and tumoral microenvironment. This analysis could help avoid invasive procedures and help choose the most suitable therapeutic in multiple therapeutic options. Radiomics has gained interest as an imaging biomarker for predicting response to various immunotherapies. Delta radiomics assesses feature variations from one time point to another based on subsequent images, offering higher value for treatment-outcome prediction or patient stratification into risk categories. It has potential benefits for clinical endpoints in oncology, such as differential diagnosis, prognosis, treatment response prediction, and evaluation of side effects. Further research with prospective and multicentre studies is needed for clinical validation of delta radiomics approaches. STATEMENT OF CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: In head and neck oncology, delta radiomics can be used to enhance the precision of diagnosis, assess tumor response, forecast normal tissue toxicity, predict clinical outcome, and pinpoint characteristics for treatment modification. Patients' quality of life may be enhanced by it. It can support post-treatment surveillance. Additionally, it can support the delivery of individualized care based on a patient's reaction to medication and radiation.