Computerized histopathologic assessment of malignant potential. II. A practical method for predicting survival following enucleation for uveal melanoma.
To assess the malignant potential of uveal melanomas from standard histopathologic material, a single microslide from each of 100 cases underwent computer-assisted measurement of nucleolar cross-sectional area. The standard deviation of 200 measurements per slide correlated well with survival of patients following enucleation for their ocular tumor. Furthermore, a statistical model calculated from these measurements effectively predicted survival for 50 additional cases. Additional investigation demonstrated the following features of this method: (1) a high level of reproducibility; (2) acceptable constancy among different levels of the same tumor; (3) a practical expenditure of resources (assessment of each case required less than 40 minutes of a technician's time and an apparatus costing approximately $20,00). This method--computerized histopathologic assessment of malignant potential (CHAMP)--thus provides the pathologist with a practical method for extracting prognostic information from standard H & E-stained microslides of uveal melanomas. Previous studies by other researchers suggests that a similar method might be effective in assessing the malignant potential of more common neoplasms.
D001344:Autopsy; D001706:Biopsy; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003201:Computers; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery