Imagine you have a team of expert detectives who use state-of-the-art technology to analyze clues and make predictions about the future. That’s essentially what this study did to help doctors predict how long patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of aggressive brain cancer, will survive. Researchers developed a sophisticated model that combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical features with a convolutional denoising autoencoder (DAE) network and the Cox proportional hazard regression model. By extracting features from the data, the model was able to accurately predict survival time. Testing on different sets of patients showed impressive results, with a concordance index (C-index) of up to 0.78. This means that the model’s predictions aligned with the actual survival outcomes of patients in the study. The innovative model utilized various evaluation techniques, such as the Kaplan-Meier curve and the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve, to assess its predictive ability. Overall, this research opens up exciting possibilities for personalized treatment strategies and improved patient care in the challenging fight against GBM.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to establish and validate a prognostic model based on magnetic resonance imaging and clinical features to predict the survival time of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).MethodsIn this study, a convolutional denoising autoencoder (DAE) network combined with the loss function of the Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to extract features for survival prediction. In addition, the Kaplan–Meier curve, the Schoenfeld residual analysis, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve, the nomogram, and the calibration curve were performed to assess the survival prediction ability.ResultsThe concordance index (C-index) of the survival prediction model, which combines the DAE and the Cox proportional hazard regression model, reached 0.78 in the training set, 0.75 in the validation set, and 0.74 in the test set. Patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups based on the median prognostic index (PI). Kaplan–Meier curve was used for survival analysis (p = < 2e-16 in the training set, p = 3e-04 in the validation set, and p = 0.007 in the test set), which showed that the survival probability of different groups was significantly different, and the PI of the network played an influential role in the prediction of survival probability. In the residual verification of the PI, the fitting curve of the scatter plot was roughly parallel to the x-axis, and the p-value of the test was 0.11, proving that the PI and survival time were independent of each other and the survival prediction ability of the PI was less affected than survival time. The areas under the curve of the training set were 0.843, 0.871, 0.903, and 0.941; those of the validation set were 0.687, 0.895, 1.000, and 0.967; and those of the test set were 0.757, 0.852, 0.683, and 0.898.ConclusionThe survival prediction model, which combines the DAE and the Cox proportional hazard regression model, can effectively predict the prognosis of patients with GBM.

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