The influence of the wet-fixed Papanicolaou and the air-dried Giemsa techniques on nuclear parameters in breast cancer cytology: a cytomorphometric study.

The influence of fixation and staining on morphometric nuclear parameters in cytologic samples of breast lesions has been investigated with respect to the wet-fix and the air-dry techniques. Aspiration biopsy material from 55 benign and malignant breast lesions was smeared onto slides and stained with a routine Papanicolaou technique (after wet fixation) or with the Azur B-eosin Y stain (after air drying). Tumors were grouped according to both histological grade and lymph node status. Nuclear area, diameter, and perimeter were measured from each specimen with an image analyzer and correlated to grade and stage of the disease. All nuclear parameters were significantly smaller in wet-fixed slides. The coefficient of variation was smaller in air-dried samples, which allowed better discrimination between different groups. Nuclear perimeter had the highest discriminative power. Unintentional air drying in wet-fixed smears increased the coefficient of variation for all nuclear parameters. Air drying of cytologic smears is recommended for morphometric investigations if chromatin texture is of minor importance.