The numerical composition of cellular samples from the female reproductive tract. V. Cell cluster patterns in cases of invasive squamous carcinoma of uterine cervix.

One hundred fifty thousand cells in a vaginal, ectocervical and endocervical smears from 25 patients with poorly to moderately differentiated squamous cancer of the uterine cervix were evaluated to determine the numerical composition of cellular clusters, the sizes of the clusters and the cellular types contained. The study is a baseline assessment for the design of automated cytology devices for which monocellular layers or individual cells are of importance. The evaluation indicates that the majority of cells appear in actual or facultative clusters, and that dispersement or breaking up of these clusters can yield improved machine-readable samples.