Medical Imaging in the Detection of Urological Malignancies

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Urology & Nephrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1262

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Morpho-Functional Sciences Department, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: morphology and embryology; oncology; artificial intelligence; machine learning algorithms; textural analysis; mpMRI
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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Imaging, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: morphology and embryology; oncology; artificial intelligence; machine learning algorithms; textural analysis; mpMRI
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor Assistant
1. Department of Anatomy and Embryology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2. Department of Pathology, Country Emergency Clinical Hospital, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: pathology; uro-oncology; artificial intelligence; machine learning algorithms; textural analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The past decade has been marked by the exponential advancement of medical imaging, with onco-radiology being at the very edge. In this context, urological malignancies have improved their detection rates, by merging conventional imagistic techniques with the expanding domain of radiomics and artificial intelligence.

At the forefront of novelty in this emerging domain is prostate cancer, which has gained diagnostic accuracy and precision, as new decision support tools based on texture analysis and machine learning algorithms have provided non-invasive methods of differentiating between benign and neoplastic tissue, as well as predicting tumoral grade and aggressiveness, with an accuracy of 90% compared to the final pathological report.

This Special Issue of Medicina will specifically focus on multiparametric MRI studies targeting prostate, vesical, renal and testicular malignancies that integrate in their protocol radiomics and artificial intelligence elements. Research papers targeting other imagistic techniques, as well as novel, intraoperative techniques, are also welcomed.      

The aim of the proposed Special Issue is to compile state-of-the-art original research papers and reviews that highlight the progress registered by uro-radiology in terms of screening, diagnosing and staging urological malignancies.

Dr. Carmen Bianca Crivii
Dr. Cosmin Caraiani
Guest Editors

Dr. Teodora Telecan
Guest Editor Assitant

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Keywords

  • urological malignancies
  • MRI
  • radiomics
  • artificial intelligence
  • abdominal imaging
  • pelvic imaging

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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23 pages, 1306 KB  
Systematic Review
From Testis to Retroperitoneum: The Role of Radiomics and Artificial Intelligence for Primary Tumors and Nodal Disease in Testicular Cancer: A Systematic Review
by Teodora Telecan, Vlad Cristian Munteanu, Adriana Ioana Gaia-Oltean, Carmen-Bianca Crivii and Roxana-Denisa Capraș
Medicina 2026, 62(1), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina62010125 - 7 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 891
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI) offer emerging quantitative tools for enhancing the diagnostic evaluation of testicular cancer. Conventional imaging—ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT)—remains central to management but has limited ability to characterize tumor subtypes, [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Radiomics and artificial intelligence (AI) offer emerging quantitative tools for enhancing the diagnostic evaluation of testicular cancer. Conventional imaging—ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT)—remains central to management but has limited ability to characterize tumor subtypes, detect occult nodal disease, or differentiate necrosis, teratoma, and viable tumor in post-chemotherapy residual masses. This systematic review summarizes current advances in radiomics and AI for both primary tumors and retroperitoneal disease. Materials and Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science identified studies applying radiomics or AI to testicular tumors, retroperitoneal lymph nodes and post-chemotherapy residual masses. Eligible studies included quantitative imaging analyses performed on ultrasound, MRI, and CT, with optional integration of clinical or molecular biomarkers. Eighteen studies met inclusion criteria and were evaluated with respect to methodological design, diagnostic performance, and translational readiness. Results: Across modalities, radiomics demonstrated encouraging discriminatory capacity, with accuracies of 74–82% for ultrasound, 80.7–97.9% for MRI, and 71.7–85.3% for CT. CT-based radiomics for post-chemotherapy residual masses showed moderate ability to distinguish necrosis/fibrosis, teratoma, and viable germ-cell tumor, though heterogeneous methodologies and limited external validation constrained generalizability. The strongest performance was observed in multimodal approaches: integrating radiomics with clinical variables or circulating microRNAs improved accuracy by up to 12% and 15%, respectively, mirroring gains reported in other oncologic radiomics applications. Persisting variability in segmentation practices, acquisition protocols, feature extraction, and machine-learning methods highlights ongoing barriers to reproducibility. Conclusions: Radiomics and AI-enhanced frameworks represent promising adjuncts for improving the noninvasive evaluation of testicular cancer, particularly when combined with clinical or molecular biomarkers. Future progress will depend on standardized imaging protocols, harmonized radiomics pipelines, and multicenter prospective validation. With continued methodological refinement and clinical integration, radiomics may support more precise risk stratification and reduce unnecessary interventions in testicular cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Imaging in the Detection of Urological Malignancies)
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