Using MRI scans and a computer to guess a tumor growth marker
Original title: Radiomics machine learning model based on multi-sequence MRI for predicting Ki-67 expression level in glioblastoma.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was built from past scans of patients, and it still needs testing at other hospitals.
The short version
Researchers built a computer tool that reads MRI scans to guess how fast a glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary is growing.
What was studied. Researchers looked back at MRI scans from 269 adults with glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary at one hospital in China. They trained a computer program to guess each tumor's Ki-67: A stain that shows how many tumor cells were dividing when the sample was taken. The report gives it as a percentage. It is read together with everything else, not on its own. See the glossary level, a marker of how fast tumor cells divide.
What they found. Of the 269 people, 61 had a low Ki-67: A stain that shows how many tumor cells were dividing when the sample was taken. The report gives it as a percentage. It is read together with everything else, not on its own. See the glossary level and 208 had a high one. The tool that used all four MRI scan types guessed better than tools that used only one scan type. It did better on the scans used to build it than on the scans held back to test it.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Right now, doctors need tumor tissue from surgery to measure this marker. If tools like this keep improving, a scan might one day give doctors a hint about it without surgery. This could add one more piece of information when doctors talk about risk.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment, and it is not a cure. It is an early computer study that looked back at old scans from a single hospital. The authors say it must be tested at other hospitals before it is used for any care decision. Nothing here changes what your own doctor can offer you today.
Source: PubMed, September 14, 2026 · Read the original
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