title: Nuclear morphometry for prediction of metastatic potential in early squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth.
abstract: Quantitative morphometric analyses of the nuclear shape have been successfully used with prostatic carcinoma to predict tumor metastatic potential and provide the most sensitive indicator of tumor aggressiveness in the individual case. We have studied the nuclear morphometric characteristics of 22 patients with T1 and T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth to see if a correlation existed between lack of nuclear roundness and presence of cervical metastatic disease. A significant difference was identified between the morphology of cancer cell nuclei and normal squamous epithelium. Nuclear morphology could not be used to distinguish between patients with cervical node-negative and node-positive disease. Some patients both with and without cervical metastases who are long-term survivors had nuclear roundness scores in the highest range, reflecting greatest variation from normal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pienta
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hruban
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Richtsmeier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis