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Correlation between automated karyometric measurements of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and histopathologic and clinical features
Author(s) -
Stephens Janet K.,
Bibbo Marluce,
Dytch Harvey,
Maiorana Alfonso,
Ruol Alberto,
Little Alex G.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19890701)64:1<83::aid-cncr2820640115>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - medicine , esophagus , pathology , carcinoma , biopsy , nuclear dna , basal cell , radiology , biology , biochemistry , mitochondrial dna , gene
The clinical staging of esophageal carcinoma is unreliable currently, making it difficult to select patients for aggressive therapy. To further refine staging criteria, the nuclear characteristics of a series of 31 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were studied using a computerized image analysis system (MicroTICAS). Karyometric measurements, including total nuclear DNA content, nuclear area, and nuclear roundness were compared with various clinical and histologic variables. Nearly all tumors (30 of 31) were aneuploid. Tumors with nuclear areas greater than 70 μm 2 were associated with transmural esophageal penetration ( P < 0.05) and to a lesser extent with poor survival (less than 6 months; P = 0.06). Surprisingly, nuclear ploidy did not correlate with either variable. These data support a role for nuclear analysis on preoperative biopsy specimens as an adjunct in clinical staging.