Sarker S K, Patel K S
Department of Cytogenetics, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, London.
J Laryngol Otol. 1997 Feb;111(2):141-4. doi: 10.1017/s0022215100136679.
Morphometric measurements of nuclei may be of prognostic value in some cancers. In this present study we have evaluated the mean nuclear area (MNA) of 50 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity (SCCOC) using computerized image analysis. Since chromosomal DNA content is a reflection of the DNA content in the nucleus, we have evaluated the relationship between MNA and chromosomal DNA. Thirteen tumours had a MNA greater than 49.9 microns2 and 37 had a MNA less than this. Six tumours were classified as hypodiploid, 29 as diploid and 15 as aneuploid. There were 44 node-negative patients and six node-positive. When comparing MNA in these groups, 50 per cent of node-positive patients had a larger MNA whilst only 20 per cent of the node-negative group had a large MNA. The correlation coefficient between MNA and DNA indices was r = 0.75. The greater nuclear size is possibly a reflection of a more aggressive tumour biology in the node-positive patients. We conclude that a large MNA may be a marker of aggressive tumour biology in this group. In the future, we aim to evaluate the prognostic significance of MNA in patients with SCCOC.
细胞核的形态测量在某些癌症中可能具有预后价值。在本研究中，我们使用计算机图像分析评估了50例口腔鳞状细胞癌（SCCOC）的平均核面积（MNA）。由于染色体DNA含量反映了细胞核中的DNA含量，我们评估了MNA与染色体DNA之间的关系。13个肿瘤的MNA大于49.9平方微米，37个肿瘤的MNA小于此值。6个肿瘤被分类为亚二倍体，29个为二倍体，15个为非整倍体。有44例淋巴结阴性患者和6例淋巴结阳性患者。比较这些组中的MNA时，50%的淋巴结阳性患者MNA较大，而淋巴结阴性组中只有20%的患者MNA较大。MNA与DNA指数之间的相关系数为r = 0.75。更大的核大小可能反映了淋巴结阳性患者中更具侵袭性的肿瘤生物学特性。我们得出结论，在该组中，大的MNA可能是侵袭性肿瘤生物学特性的一个标志物。未来，我们旨在评估MNA在SCCOC患者中的预后意义。
