{"id":"idc-mediastinal-lymph-node-seg","title":"Mediastinal-Lymph-Node-SEG","short_title":"mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","aliases":["mediastinal_lymph_node_seg"],"summary":"Accurate lymph node size estimation is critical for staging cancer patients, initial therapeutic management, and in longitudinal scans, assessing response to therapy. Machine learning models for medical image segmentation have shown remarkable progress in recent years, but we know of no tools available to fully quantify lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are often within the intensity profile of normal soft tissue and have ill-defined borders. Additionally, their presentation across subjects can vary significantly, making it difficult to scale from small datasets to a robust tool. This dataset contains chest CT scans from 540 patients acquired during treatment for various cancer types, curated for the LNQ2023 MICCAI Challenge to help develop new segmentation tools from weakly annotated cases. The dataset contains both partially annotated (i.e., one mediastinal lymph node out of several in the case are segmented) as well as fully annotated (i.e., all mediastinal lymph nodes are segmented) cases and clinical data (gender/cancer type). Please see the Mediastinal-Lymph-Node-SEG collection page to learn more about the images and to obtain any supporting metadata for this collection.","one_liner":null,"identifiers":[{"scheme":"idc_collection_id","value":"mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","url":"https://portal.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/explore/?collection_id=mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","is_primary":true,"evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]},{"scheme":"tcia_collection","value":"Mediastinal-Lymph-Node-SEG","url":"https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/collections/","is_primary":false,"evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]}],"repository":{"name":"NCI Imaging Data Commons","short_name":"IDC","url":"https://portal.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov","is_nci_crdc_node":true,"is_nih_repository":true},"additional_repositories":[],"program_name":"NCI Imaging Data Commons / The Cancer Imaging Archive","program_url":"https://imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/","nci_program":"IDC","generating_institutions":[],"data_generation_funding_role":"unknown","version":null,"release_date":null,"last_upstream_update":null,"retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","landing_page_url":"https://portal.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/explore/?collection_id=mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","cancer_types":[{"label":"Breast Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Non-small Cell Lung Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Hodgkin Lymphoma","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Small Cell Lung Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Thyroid Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Adenocarcinoma","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Melanoma","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Head and Neck Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Prostate Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Mesothelioma","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Ovarian Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null},{"label":"Colon Cancer","ontology":null,"code":null,"url":null}],"primary_sites":["Lymph Node"],"subject":{"scope":"pan_cancer","tissues":[],"evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":null,"source_label":"cds.subjects","retrieved_at":null,"snippet":null,"locator":"cancer_types: Breast Cancer, Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, Hodgkin Lymphoma, Small Cell Lung Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Adenocarcinoma, Melanoma, Head and Neck Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Mesothelioma, Ovarian Cancer, Colon Cancer; primary_sites: Lymph Node","confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"Four or more repository-stated tissues make this pan-cancer."}]},"is_pediatric":null,"model_systems":[],"cohort":{"n_cases":513,"n_samples":null,"n_aliquots":null,"n_files":null,"total_bytes":null,"n_tumor_cases":null,"n_normal_cases":null,"has_matched_normal":null,"demographics":{"sex":{},"race":{},"ethnicity":{},"age_at_diagnosis_years":{},"vital_status":{},"country_or_region":{},"evidence":[]},"evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]},"assays":[{"modality":"radiology","label":"DICOM medical imaging","platform":null,"n_cases":513,"n_samples":null,"n_files":null,"data_levels":["DICOM series"],"access_tier":"open","evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]},{"modality":"clinical","label":"Clinical (accompanying data, per IDC supporting_data)","platform":null,"n_cases":null,"n_samples":null,"n_files":null,"data_levels":[],"access_tier":null,"evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":"field: supporting_data","confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]}],"clinical_variables":[],"longitudinal":{"has_followup":null,"has_survival_endpoint":null,"survival_endpoints":[],"median_followup_months":null,"max_followup_months":null,"n_cases_with_followup":null,"has_serial_samples":null,"timepoints":[],"n_cases_with_serial":null,"has_treatment_response":null,"response_criteria":[],"evidence":[]},"access":{"tier":"open","open_components":[],"controlled_components":[],"mechanism":"Public DICOM download from the IDC portal, its API, or the idc-index Python package; no account required for public collections.","dua_url":null,"data_access_committee":null,"typical_turnaround":null,"embargo_until":null,"login_required":false,"citation_requirement":"Cite the collection DOI and the IDC/TCIA data-citation guidance.","license":"Per-collection license, typically CC BY 3.0/4.0 or CC BY-NC","publication_policy_url":"https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/data-usage-policies-and-restrictions/","evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/collections/mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC v3 API /collections","retrieved_at":"2026-09-18T02:44:36.389375Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]},"useful_for":[],"limitations":[{"kind":"harmonization","statement":"Clinical data arrive as 1 collection-specific table(s) with 7 columns in total, named by the submitting trial rather than by a shared vocabulary. The variables exist, but they cannot be compared field by field with the harmonized repositories, so this record's analysis verdicts stay unmeasured.","severity":"major","affected_analyses":[],"mitigation":"Read the table's own schema from https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/clinical/tables before planning an analysis.","evidence":[{"method":"api","source_url":"https://api.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/v3/clinical/tables","source_label":"IDC v3 API /clinical/tables","retrieved_at":"2026-09-19T03:20:46.830869Z","snippet":null,"locator":"collection_id=mediastinal_lymph_node_seg: 1 table(s), 7 columns in total","confidence":"high","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":null}]}],"inappropriate_uses":[],"primary_publications":[],"reuse":[],"reuse_metrics":{"n_candidates_screened":0,"n_by_tier":{},"n_by_tier_raw":{},"accession_precision":null,"n_citations_to_primary_publication":null,"citation_to_reuse_ratio":null,"has_citable_accession":false,"n_verified_reuse":null,"n_reuse_examined":0,"n_independent_reuse":0,"n_nci_funded_reuse":0,"first_reuse_year":null,"latest_reuse_year":null,"years_since_release":null,"expected_reuse":null,"reuse_gap_index":null,"reuse_gap_percentile":null,"search_strategy_id":"epmc-index-v3","searched_at":"2026-09-20T18:07:31.154228Z","no_reuse_identified":false,"evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":null,"source_label":"reuse index","retrieved_at":"2026-09-20T18:07:31.154228Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"low","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"This dataset has no accession specific enough to search for in the literature, so citation-based reuse cannot be measured. Absence of a count here is not evidence of absence of reuse."}]},"underexplored":{"is_underexplored":false,"basis":["Not assessed: this dataset has no accession specific enough for citation-based reuse tracing, so a shortfall cannot be measured."],"index_value":null,"percentile":null,"comparator_set":"rgi-huber-v2","evidence":[]},"grants":[],"access_steps":[{"order":1,"action":"Open the collection in the IDC portal","detail":"Browse the series before downloading; imaging collections can be very large.","url":"https://portal.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/explore/?collection_id=mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","requires":[],"est_time":"5 minutes","cli_snippet":null,"audience":"human","evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":"https://portal.imaging.datacommons.cancer.gov/explore/?collection_id=mediastinal_lymph_node_seg","source_label":"IDC access documentation","retrieved_at":"2026-09-21T12:30:59.429655Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"Generated by applying the repository's documented access policy to this dataset's identifiers. It is not a reviewer's account of this dataset."}]},{"order":2,"action":"Read the collection's own licence","detail":"Per-collection license, typically CC BY 3.0/4.0 or CC BY-NC. IDC licences differ by collection.","url":"https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/data-usage-policies-and-restrictions/","requires":[],"est_time":"5 minutes","cli_snippet":null,"audience":"human","evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":"https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/data-usage-policies-and-restrictions/","source_label":"IDC access documentation","retrieved_at":"2026-09-21T12:30:59.429657Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"Generated by applying the repository's documented access policy to this dataset's identifiers. It is not a reviewer's account of this dataset."}]},{"order":3,"action":"Download with idc-index","detail":"The package resolves the collection to its buckets and pulls selected data.","url":"https://github.com/ImagingDataCommons/idc-index","requires":[],"est_time":"hours for a full collection","cli_snippet":"pip install idc-index\npython - <<'PY'\nfrom idc_index import IDCClient\nIDCClient().download_from_selection(collection_id=\"mediastinal_lymph_node_seg\", downloadDir=\".\")\nPY","audience":"human","evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":"https://github.com/ImagingDataCommons/idc-index","source_label":"IDC access documentation","retrieved_at":"2026-09-21T12:30:59.429659Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"Generated by applying the repository's documented access policy to this dataset's identifiers. It is not a reviewer's account of this dataset."}]},{"order":4,"action":"List the series before pulling pixels","detail":"List modality and size first so an agent can choose what to fetch.","url":"https://learn.canceridc.dev/","requires":[],"est_time":null,"cli_snippet":"python - <<'PY'\nfrom idc_index import IDCClient\ni = IDCClient().index\ns = i[i[\"collection_id\"] == \"mediastinal_lymph_node_seg\"]\nprint(len(s), \"series\", s[\"PatientID\"].nunique(), \"patients\",\n      round(s[\"series_size_MB\"].sum() / 1024, 1), \"GB\")\nprint(s[\"Modality\"].value_counts().to_dict())\nPY","audience":"agent","evidence":[{"method":"derived","source_url":"https://learn.canceridc.dev/","source_label":"IDC access documentation","retrieved_at":"2026-09-21T12:30:59.429660Z","snippet":null,"locator":null,"confidence":"medium","reviewer":null,"reviewed_at":null,"note":"Generated by applying the repository's documented access policy to this dataset's identifiers. It is not a reviewer's account of this dataset."}]}],"analysis_examples":[],"agent_package":{"json_url":"/data/datasets/idc-mediastinal-lymph-node-seg.json","jsonld_url":"/data/jsonld/idc-mediastinal-lymph-node-seg.jsonld","croissant_url":"/data/croissant/idc-mediastinal-lymph-node-seg.json","instructions_url":"/data/agent/idc-mediastinal-lymph-node-seg.md","bundle_url":null,"mcp_resource_uri":null},"related_dataset_ids":[],"related_underexplored_ids":[],"review":{"status":"machine_only","reviewer":null,"reviewer_affiliation":null,"reviewed_at":null,"sections_reviewed":[],"open_questions":[],"notes":null},"verification":{"last_verified_at":null,"link_checks":[],"n_links_ok":0,"n_links_broken":0,"upstream_version_seen":null,"upstream_version_changed":false,"upstream_counts_seen":{},"upstream_drift":{},"notes":[]},"is_showcase":false,"completeness_score":16.1,"tags":["idc","imaging","has-clinical-table"],"search_text":null}