Morphometric characterization of nuclei in non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma.

In addition to the nuclear area and a form factor, four morphometric parameters of nuclear shape (ID, R1, R2 and ND), obtained by the application of the principles of mathematical morphology, were used to characterize the nuclear contours in non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas. The values for each parameter were determined in 58 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma categorized according to the Kiel and National Cancer Institute classifications. Small-cell, mixed and large-cell lymphomas could be distinguished on the basis of the mean nuclear area. The shape parameters R1, R2 and ID were efficient discriminators of the large centrocytic (cleaved-cell) lymphomas. Neither size nor shape factors could distinguish between centroblastic and immunoblastic tumors. The good correlation between the morphometric findings and the histopathologic categories suggest that morphometry may provide a quantitative and objective method for grading lymphomas.