title: Morphologic and morphometric features of low grade serous tumours of the ovary.
abstract: Peritoneal washings from twelve patients with serous tumours of the ovary were studied. Six patients had borderline serous tumours (BSTs), and six had grade one adenocarcinomas. Papanicolaou stained slides were assessed for nine morphologic parameters; background, single cells, size of papillary fragments, contour of papillary fragments, psamomma bodies, cytoplasmic vacuoles, nuclear pleomorphism, nuclear membrane contour, and nucleoli. The slides were destained and restained by the Feulgen method for assessment, with a computer based image analysis system (CAS100, Cell Analysis Systems, Inc., Elmhurst, IL), of DNA content, nuclear size, and nuclear roundness. The contour of the papillary fragments (P = 0.004) and the presence of nuclear pleomorphism (0.019) were distinguishing characteristics. All six BSTs were diploid while three of the six adenocarcinomas had aneuploidy. Two exhibited polyploid DNA distribution and one exhibited diploid DNA distribution. The pooled data for the nuclear size and roundness showed little difference in the modal values, although the nuclei of the adenocarcinoma cells were slightly larger than those of the borderline cells (54 sq. microns vs. 46 sw. microns). However, the coefficients of variation (CVs) for each of these parameters were larger in the adenocarcinoma group than in the borderline group (59.7 vs. 36.4% for size and 33.5 vs. 17.8% for roundness). Although the sample size is small, the data suggest that aneuploidy is rare in borderline tumours. In addition, the presence of papillary groups with irregular contours and nuclear pleomorphism (reflected in higher CVs for nuclear size and roundness) both occur more commonly in adenocarcinomas than in borderline tumours and may be of predictive value in distinguishing the two groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gurley
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Hidvegi
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Cajulis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bacus
mesh_terms: D018283:Cystadenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology*; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000473:pathology*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm