Questa pagina è stata tradotta automaticamente e l'accuratezza della traduzione non è garantita. Si prega di fare riferimento al Versione inglese per un testo di partenza.

Multicenter Prospective Validation of AI Models for Malignancy Risk Prediction in Pulmonary Nodules

22 luglio 2026 aggiornato da: Wen-zhao ZHONG, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital

A Multicenter Prospective Diagnostic Accuracy Study of Three CT-Based Artificial Intelligence Models for Predicting Malignancy Risk in Pulmonary Nodules Using Pathology as the Gold Standard

This multicenter prospective diagnostic accuracy study will compare the performance of three artificial intelligence (AI) models (MVCS, LungDoc, and a United Imaging AI model) for predicting the malignancy risk of pulmonary nodules on chest CT. All enrolled patients will have pulmonary nodules ≤3 cm on CT and a definitive postoperative or biopsy pathological diagnosis. The AI models will generate continuous malignancy probability scores based only on CT images. Pathology will serve as the gold standard.

The primary objective is to compare the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for malignancy prediction among the three AI models. Secondary objectives include comparison of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, accuracy, F1 score, and calibration. Exploratory analyses will evaluate the MVCS model for predicting pathological invasion degree (pre-invasive, minimally invasive, and invasive adenocarcinoma) and an extended MVCSN model that incorporates clinical and imaging features in a data-complete subset.

Panoramica dello studio

Stato

Non ancora reclutamento

Condizioni

Descrizione dettagliata

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Low-dose CT (LDCT) screening improves early detection but generates a high prevalence of indeterminate pulmonary nodules and substantial false positives, leading to unnecessary invasive procedures and anxiety while still risking missed early cancers. Traditional radiologic assessment of pulmonary nodules relies on visual features and clinical risk factors, with limited performance and substantial reader variability, especially for small or subsolid nodules.

Recent advances in deep learning enable AI models to extract high-dimensional imaging features from CT scans and to predict nodule malignancy and risk stratification. Several commercial AI systems for pulmonary nodule assessment have been approved and deployed in clinical practice, and academic groups have proposed novel algorithms such as the multi-view coupled self-attention (MVCS) model. However, most prior studies have been single-center, retrospective, and used reference standards such as imaging follow-up or expert reading rather than biopsy pathology. Head-to-head comparisons of different AI models in prospective, multicenter real-world populations with pathological gold standard are lacking.

This study is a multicenter, prospective, diagnostic accuracy comparison of three purely imaging-based AI models-MVCS, LungDoc (Shukun Technology), and a United Imaging AI model-for predicting the malignancy of pulmonary nodules. Eligible patients are adults (≥18 years) with at least one pulmonary nodule ≤3 cm on CT, who undergo surgical or biopsy pathology with a definitive benign or malignant diagnosis, and with a CT-pathology interval ≤6 months. CT images in DICOM format will be collected using standardized acquisition parameters across centers and processed by the three AI models, which output continuous malignancy probabilities or suspicion scores. Investigators will be blinded to AI outputs.

The primary endpoint is the AUC for malignancy prediction for each model, and pairwise AUC comparisons using DeLong's test. Secondary endpoints include binary performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, accuracy, F1 score) at model-native thresholds and optimal Youden index thresholds, as well as calibration (calibration curves, intercept, slope). Prespecified subgroup analyses will examine performance by age, sex, smoking status, nodule size, morphology, and study center, and random-effects methods will be used to assess center effects.

An exploratory aim will validate the MVCS model for predicting pathological invasion degree by classifying nodules into pre-invasive lesions (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia [AAH] / adenocarcinoma in situ [AIS]), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and invasive adenocarcinoma (ADC), using metrics such as multi-class accuracy, weighted F1 score, confusion matrix, Matthews correlation coefficient, and AUC for predefined binary sub-tasks. Another exploratory analysis will evaluate the MVCSN model, which incorporates CT images plus clinical and radiologic features, in a subset with complete data.

The study plans to enroll 3,000 pathologically confirmed pulmonary nodules across five centers in China over approximately 30 months. No experimental treatment is administered; all clinical management, imaging, and pathology follow standard of care. Risks are limited to those associated with clinically indicated pathology procedures (e.g., surgery or biopsy).

Tipo di studio

Osservativo

Iscrizione (Stimato)

3000

Contatti e Sedi

Questa sezione fornisce i recapiti di coloro che conducono lo studio e informazioni su dove viene condotto lo studio.

Contatto studio

Luoghi di studio

    • Chongqing Municipality
      • Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, Cina, 400037
        • Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (Xinqiao Hospital)
        • Contatto:
    • Guangdong
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, Cina, 510000
        • Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital
        • Contatto:
        • Investigatore principale:
          • Wenzhao Zhong, PhD
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, Cina, 510000
        • Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University
        • Contatto:
    • Jiangsu
      • Xuzhou, Jiangsu, Cina, 221006
        • Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University
        • Contatto:
    • Zhejiang
      • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Cina, 310003
        • Zhejiang University
        • Contatto:

Criteri di partecipazione

I ricercatori cercano persone che corrispondano a una certa descrizione, chiamata criteri di ammissibilità. Alcuni esempi di questi criteri sono le condizioni generali di salute di una persona o trattamenti precedenti.

Criteri di ammissibilità

Età idonea allo studio

  • Adulto
  • Adulto più anziano

Accetta volontari sani

No

Metodo di campionamento

Campione non probabilistico

Popolazione di studio

Adults (≥18 years) undergoing routine clinical care at five tertiary hospitals in China who have at least one pulmonary nodule (≤3 cm) detected on chest CT and receive surgical or biopsy pathology with a definitive benign or malignant diagnosis. All participants have adequate CT image quality and complete clinicopathologic information for AI model validation

Descrizione

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 18 years, any sex.
  • At least one pulmonary nodule detected on chest CT, with initial nodule diameter ≤ 3 cm.
  • The nodule undergoes surgical resection or biopsy with a definitive benign or malignant pathological diagnosis.
  • Time interval between CT examination and pathological examination ≤ 6 months.
  • Availability of complete CT imaging data in DICOM format with adequate image quality (no severe artifacts), meeting input requirements of all three AI models.

Availability of complete clinicopathologic information including histologic type and grade, with clear pathological diagnosis suitable as gold standard labels for AI validation.

-The patient (or legally authorized representative) is willing and able to sign written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pathological results are unclear, inconclusive, or disputed; nodule nature or grade cannot be reliably determined.
  • The patient receives treatments between CT and pathology that may significantly alter nodule appearance (e.g., chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy).
  • CT imaging data are incomplete (missing essential series) or have severe motion, metal, or other artifacts preventing accurate AI analysis.
  • Required metadata for any AI model are missing and cannot be imputed. History of other malignant tumors (malignancies other than the index non-small cell lung cancer).
  • Severe psychiatric illness, cognitive impairment, or other conditions that prevent cooperation with study-related procedures and follow-up.

Participation in another clinical study that may interfere with the results of this research.

-The patient or legal representative refuses participation.

Exclusion (Post-Enrollment / Removal from Analysis)

Participants already enrolled may be excluded from the analysis set if:

  • They are later found not to meet inclusion criteria or to meet exclusion criteria.
  • No usable data are available after enrollment.
  • Required AI model assessments are not completed (e.g., technical failure to generate outputs).
  • Critical data are missing, preventing contribution to primary analysis.
  • The interval between CT and pathology exceeds 6 months.

Piano di studio

Questa sezione fornisce i dettagli del piano di studio, compreso il modo in cui lo studio è progettato e ciò che lo studio sta misurando.

Come è strutturato lo studio?

Dettagli di progettazione

Coorti e interventi

Gruppo / Coorte
Single group
This study has only one group.

Cosa sta misurando lo studio?

Misure di risultato primarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) for Malignancy Prediction
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
For each pure imaging AI model (MVCS, LungDoc, United Imaging model), the AUC of the receiver operating characteristic curve for predicting malignant versus benign pulmonary nodules, based on continuous malignancy probabilities or suspicion scores. AUCs will be reported with 95% confidence intervals, and pairwise comparisons will be conducted using DeLong's test.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT

Misure di risultato secondarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Sensitivity and Specificity for Malignancy Prediction
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Sensitivity and specificity for classifying nodules as malignant vs benign for each AI model, using both (a) model-predefined thresholds and (b) optimal cut-off points determined by maximizing the Youden index. 95% confidence intervals will be reported; paired comparisons will use McNemar's test.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV)
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
PPV and NPV for malignancy prediction for each AI model at the same thresholds as above, with 95% confidence intervals.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Overall Diagnostic Accuracy and F1 Score
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Proportion of correctly classified nodules (accuracy) and F1 score for each AI model in the binary task of malignant versus benign nodules, with 95% confidence intervals.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Calibration Metrics
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Calibration performance of each AI model will be evaluated by calibration plots, calibration intercept, and calibration slope for predicted malignancy probability versus observed malignant proportion. Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test will be reported.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT

Altre misure di risultato

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Multi-Class Accuracy of MVCS for Pathological Invasion Degree
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
For nodules with specific pathological subtypes (AAH, AIS, MIA, ADC), performance of the MVCS model in three-class classification: pre-invasive lesions (AAH-AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and invasive adenocarcinoma (ADC). Metrics include overall three-class accuracy and weighted F1 score.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) and Confusion Matrix for Invasion Classification
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
Exploratory Performance of MVCSN Model for Malignancy Prediction
Lasso di tempo: At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT
In a subset with complete clinical and imaging feature data, the MVCSN model (CT + clinical + imaging features) will be evaluated for malignancy prediction using similar metrics (AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, accuracy, F1, calibration). Results will be used exploratorily and not for primary hypothesis testing.
At the time of availability of pathology results, up to 6 months after index chest CT

Collaboratori e investigatori

Qui è dove troverai le persone e le organizzazioni coinvolte in questo studio.

Sponsor

Studiare le date dei record

Queste date tengono traccia dell'avanzamento della registrazione dello studio e dell'invio dei risultati di sintesi a ClinicalTrials.gov. I record degli studi e i risultati riportati vengono esaminati dalla National Library of Medicine (NLM) per assicurarsi che soddisfino specifici standard di controllo della qualità prima di essere pubblicati sul sito Web pubblico.

Studia le date principali

Inizio studio (Stimato)

1 luglio 2026

Completamento primario (Stimato)

1 marzo 2028

Completamento dello studio (Stimato)

1 dicembre 2028

Date di iscrizione allo studio

Primo inviato

18 luglio 2026

Primo inviato che soddisfa i criteri di controllo qualità

22 luglio 2026

Primo Inserito (Effettivo)

27 luglio 2026

Aggiornamenti dei record di studio

Ultimo aggiornamento pubblicato (Effettivo)

27 luglio 2026

Ultimo aggiornamento inviato che soddisfa i criteri QC

22 luglio 2026

Ultimo verificato

1 luglio 2026

Maggiori informazioni

Termini relativi a questo studio

Altri numeri di identificazione dello studio

  • KY2026-585-02
  • 2024ZD0529400 (Altro numero di sovvenzione/finanziamento: National Science and Technology Major Project of China)

Piano per i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)

Hai intenzione di condividere i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)?

INDECISO

Informazioni su farmaci e dispositivi, documenti di studio

Studia un prodotto farmaceutico regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Studia un dispositivo regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Queste informazioni sono state recuperate direttamente dal sito web clinicaltrials.gov senza alcuna modifica. In caso di richieste di modifica, rimozione o aggiornamento dei dettagli dello studio, contattare register@clinicaltrials.gov. Non appena verrà implementata una modifica su clinicaltrials.gov, questa verrà aggiornata automaticamente anche sul nostro sito web .