The significance of nuclear diameter in the biologic behavior of thyroid carcinomas: a retrospective study of 127 cases.
The relationship between nuclear diameter and biologic behavior was studied in 127 cases of thyroid carcinoma. Using a sonic digitizer coupled to a minicomputer, nuclear diameters of 200 randomly selected cancer cells from each case (hematoxylineosin-stained paraffin sections) projected at X 400 magnification were traced and averaged. A total of 25,400 measurements were made. The nuclear diameters varied from 4.7 to 13.1 micron. By analysis of variance, the nuclear diameters were significantly different (p = 0.0007) among the four types of thyroid cancers, being largest in the undifferentiated cancers (8.7 +/- 0.8 micron) and smallest in the medullary cancers (6.6 +/- 0.1 micron). Nuclear diameter was also significantly correlated with degree of tumor differentiation (p = 0.002), maximal tumor diameter (p = 0.03), mitotic rate (p = 0.002), and 5-year survival (p less than 0.05) for all types of tumors. The correlation between nuclear diameter and disease stage was significant only for undifferentiated cancers (p = 0.04). No significant correlations were seen between nuclear diameter and duration of disease, sex, or age of the patient.
Lee
T K
TK
Radiation Oncology Center, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, NC 27834-4354.
Myers
R T
RT
Bond
M G
MG
Marshall
R B
RB
Kardon
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013997:Time Factors