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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2025; 17(12): 114037
Published online Dec 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i12.114037
Published online Dec 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i12.114037
Application of multimodal fusion technology in early recurrence prediction and pathological analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma
Li-Hong Huang, Xiao-Jun Zheng, Bin Yu, Meng-Jie Huang, Shi-Ji Qin, De-You Huang, De-Wei Lu, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise 533000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Yi-Jing Fang, Department of Radiology, Beihai People's Hospital, Beihai 536000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Ce Huang, Department of Radiology, Tianlin County People's Hospital, Baise 533300, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Chang-Lu Li, Department of Radiology, Qinzhou First People's Hospital, Qinzhou 535000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Li-Hong Huang and Yi-Jing Fang.
Co-corresponding authors: De-You Huang and De-Wei Lu.
Author contributions: Huang LH and Fang YJ contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Huang DY and Lu DW contribute equally to this study as co-corresponding authors; Huang LH, Fang YJ, Zheng XJ, Huang DY and Lu DW carried out the studies, participated in collecting data, and drafted the manuscript; Huang LH, Fang YJ, Zheng XJ, Huang DY and Lu DW performed the statistical analysis and participated in its design; Huang C, Li CL, Yu B, Huang MJ, Qin SJ helped to draft the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the "Summit Plan (New Departure)" Project for the Development of Doctoral Degree Authorization Points and Professional Disciplines at the Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, No. DF20244433; Self-funded Research Projects by the Guangxi Health and Wellness Committee, No. Z-L20240824; and the Project to Enhance the Research Foundations of Young and Mid-career Faculty in Guangxi Universities, No. 2024KY0562.
Institutional review board statement: Following the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 237 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma at the Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities from January 2019 to May 2024. We obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board and received a waiver of informed consent for all patients from the institution (approval No. YYFY-LL-2024-038).
Informed consent statement: In accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and our institution’s ethical review guidelines, the ethics committee granted a waiver of informed consent due to the non-interventional nature of the study and the de-identification of patient information.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: De-Wei Lu, BM, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, No. 18 Zhongshan Second Road, Baise 533000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. 45934710@qq.com
Received: September 10, 2025
Revised: October 2, 2025
Accepted: November 6, 2025
Published online: December 15, 2025
Processing time: 92 Days and 17.1 Hours
Revised: October 2, 2025
Accepted: November 6, 2025
Published online: December 15, 2025
Processing time: 92 Days and 17.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study explores an interpretable fusion model that combines clinical, radiomics, and habitat features based on enhanced arterial-phase computed tomography images of the liver to predict early recurrence after hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surgery. The model outperforms traditional radiomics, clinical, and habitat models. It can help clinicians identify early recurrence of HCC after surgery.