The Looming Nodule Crisis- Radiomics to the rescue

The nodules just keep piling up.....

Each year, millions of lung nodules are detected, yet only a small fraction (5%) are malignant, leaving the vast majority (95%) under continued monitoring. Although increased screening and AI-driven detection are advancements, they contribute to an already heavy workload and the potential for burnout. Current risk assessment primarily depends on nodule size and growth rate, often leading to delayed intervention until malignancy is more probable.

To disrupt this pattern, it's crucial to identify high-risk, small nodules earlier without a corresponding rise in false positives. While blood and nasal biomarkers show limited effectiveness for small nodules, radiomics—the analysis of medical image patterns to discover prognostic biomarkers—presents the most promising strategy, especially when integrated with existing diagnostic tools.