MRI-based habitat radiomics for predicting WHO/ISUP nuclear grade in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Objective: This study aimed to develop an explainable fusion model that integrates intratumoral, peritumoral, and habitat features derived from MRI to evaluate its feasibility for predicting the WHO/ISUP nuclear grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 154 patients with pathologically confirmed ccRCC and partitioned them into a training set (n = 108) and an independent test set (n = 46). On contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, regions of interest were manually delineated layer-by-layer along the tumor margin and expanded outward by 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm to derive peritumoral regions. Tumor habitat regions were identified using the K-means clustering algorithm. After extraction and selection of radiomic features, radiomics and habitat models were constructed using five machine learning algorithms. These effective features were then integrated into a nomogram. Model performance was assessed by plotting receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Model calibration and clinical utility were evaluated using calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA). Model interpretability was enhanced by employing Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP). Results: Three habitat subregions were identified within tumors. The integrated habitat region(Habitat) model demonstrated the highest performance among the evaluated habitat models, with AUCs of 0.894 and 0.877 in the training and test sets, respectively. The Peri2mm model achieved AUCs of 0.884 and 0.839, outperforming other peritumoral ranges. Therefore, the 2-mm peritumoral margin was considered a potentially optimal analysis range in this cohort.When the integrated habitat region signature was combined with intratumoral features, 2-mm peritumoral features and the independent clinical predictor (corticomedullary enhancement level) in a nomogram, predictive performance was further improved, achieving AUCs of 0.934 and 0.912. SHAP bee swarm and force plots provided intuitive visualization of the habitat model's decision-making process. Conclusion: The nomogram, which integrates intratumoral, peritumoral and habitat radiomic features derived from MRI, demonstrated excellent performance for noninvasive preoperative prediction of WHO/ISUP nuclear grade in ccRCC and holds promise as an adjunctive tool for individualized therapy planning and prognostic assessment. However, its clinical application requires further external validation.