Nuclear morphometry of renal cell carcinomas.
In this study, the correlation between different morphometric nuclear parameters and grading of renal cell carcinoma was investigated. Nuclear area, the standard deviation of the nuclear area and the form factor (FF) were assessed using a computer assisted image analyzer system. A statistically significant difference between G2 and G3 carcinomas could be confirmed for the nuclear area and the standard deviation of the nuclear area, with the significance level being lower for the latter parameter. Normal tubular epithelia and G1 carcinomas showed no significant difference in the nuclear area and the standard deviation of the nuclear area. In contrast, the form factor discriminated between normal tubular epithelium and G1 carcinomas, whereas no difference of the FF between G2 and G3 carcinomas was found. Reclassification of the subjectively assessed tumor grading was performed by means of linear discriminant analysis using all possible combinations of the different nuclear parameters. This procedure disclosed an increasing rate of correctly reclassified grading with rising number of parameters applied. We conclude that the isolated assessment of nuclear area does not suffice for the correct morphometric tumor grading, and that further parameters describing the nuclear shape have to be applied additionally in studies concerning morphometric nuclear grading.
Department of Pathology, Philipps University Marbufg/Lahn, Germany.
P J
PJ
Barth
A
A
Siebel
E
E
Gerharz
H H
HH
Köhler
D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results