Fig. 6

Example of nomogram clinical use. The preoperative whole-body PET/CT of this 61-year-old female with negative CEA status indicated the primary tumor was located in the right upper lobe (purple circle), with hypermetabolic mediastinal–hilar LNs (red square and arrows), and without distant metastasis (a–c). After completing the radiomics process (b, c) and applying the nomogram (d), the LNM probability of this patient was 0.12 (< 0.55), indicating a low risk of LNM. The pathological result of lobectomy with SND confirmed the negative status of mediastinal–hilar LN (0/7). The nomogram could improve the accuracy of hypermetabolic mediastinal–hilar LNs evaluation in lung cancer