Image Morphometric Nuclear Grading of Intraepithelial Neoplastic Lesions with Applications to Cancer Chemoprevention Trials

A new image morphometric method of nuclear grading is described and assessed in the context of the evaluation of histological samples from ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The method results in a continuous scaled variable, or nuclear grading scale, expr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention biomarkers & prevention, 1999-12, Vol.8 (12), p.1087-1094
Main Authors: BACUS, J. W, BOONE, C. W, BACUS, J. V, FOLLEN, M, KELLOFF, G. J, KAGAN, V, LIPPMAN, S. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
Biopsy
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Carcinoma in Situ - pathology
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - pathology
Cell Nucleus - pathology
Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - pathology
Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - prevention & control
Discriminant Analysis
Disease Progression
DNA, Neoplasm - analysis
Drug Monitoring - methods
Eflornithine - therapeutic use
Female
Female genital diseases
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Image Cytometry - methods
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods
Linear Models
Mammary gland diseases
Medical sciences
Neoplasm Staging - methods
Treatment Outcome
Tumors
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control
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Summary:A new image morphometric method of nuclear grading is described and assessed in the context of the evaluation of histological samples from ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The method results in a continuous scaled variable, or nuclear grading scale, expressed in SD units from measured normal nuclei from breast or cervix. For a given histological preinvasive neoplastic lesion, the mean nuclear grade of measured nuclei was shown to be analogous to the histopathological nuclear grade of the same lesion assigned subjectively by the pathologist. In a chemoprevention trial of the effect of difluoromethylornithine given for 1 month to subjects with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3, pathologists could see no difference in 14 histological sections taken before and after difluoromethylornithine treatment. However, the image morphometric method detected a systematic effect of lowered mean nuclear grade and a decrease in the variability of nuclear grade expression. Twelve of 14 samples showed a lower posttreatment mean nuclear grade ( P < 0.05), and 13 of the 14 samples showed a decrease in the SD of their nuclear grade distributions ( P < 0.01). This study demonstrates the use of image morphometric nuclear grading in a chemoprevention setting. It may be very useful in supplementing the pathologist’s histopathological grading by providing objective, quantitative assessments.
ISSN:1055-9965
1538-7755