Nuclear area and DNA content in tumor and nontumor portions of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The nuclear area and DNA content between tumor and nontumor portions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were compared. Thirty pairs of imprint smears were made from surgical specimens and stained with a modified Feulgen reaction. Two hundred nuclei were scanned with a microdensitometer at a wavelength of 550 nm. DNA histograms were plotted with lymphocytes as the internal control. Nuclear areas of 200 cells in each case were measured with Minimagiscan image analyzer. Hyperploidy (DNA index > 1.1) was 76.7% and 53.3% in tumor and nontumor portions, respectively. The S-phase fraction value was 7.9 +/- 3.5% (+/- SD) and 4.1 +/- 2.4% in tumor and nontumor portions of HCC (P < .001). The mean nuclear area of the tumor portion was significantly larger than that of its corresponding nontumor portion (232.9 +/- 68.1 vs. 137.6 +/- 15.5 microns2, P < .001). Marked anisonucleosis was found in both the tumor and nontumor portions of HCC. The mean coefficient of variation of mean nuclear areas was 27.8 +/- 10.4% and 22.9 +/- 4.9% in the tumor and nontumor portions, respectively (P < .05). DNA ploidy correlated well with mean nuclear area in the tumor portions (r = .730) but not in the nontumor ones. The results indicate that the three most important cytologic criteria of malignant cells--hyperchromatism, nuclear enlargement and anisonucleosis--are evident in both the tumor and nontumor portions of HCC.