The value of nuclear DNA and texture analysis by digital image processing in the diagnosis of lipomatous and leiomyomatous tumours.
The present study investigates whether the quantitative chromatin pattern description carried out by means of the digital cell image analysis of Feulgen-stained nuclei can contribute valuable diagnostic information on sarcomas. A series of 77 soft tissue tumours was consequently studied. This series included 9 benign lipomas versus 26 malignant liposarcomas and 26 benign leiomyomas versus 16 malignant leiomyosarcomas. Of the 26 liposarcomas, 14 were primary and 12 recurrent tumours. Of the 16 leiomyosarcomas, 13 were primary and three recurrent tumours. The results show that the combined use of principal-components analysis and the discriminant analyses of digital data obtained by means of the computer-assisted microscope analysis of Feulgen-stained nuclei made it possible to obtain a clear-cut distinction between the three histopathological groups relating to the lipoma/liposarcoma group of soft tumours. In contrast, while a clear-cut distinction could be made between the recurrent leiomyosarcomas and the primary leiomyosarcomas, such a distinction was not possible between the benign leiomyomas and the malignant primary leiomyosarcomas. This feature, along with previous ones obtained through DNA ploidy level determination, suggests to us that leiomyomas, or at least some of them, are in the process of malignant transformation. In other words, leiomyomas might be the pre-malignant counterpart of leiomyosarcomas, a feature that the present results do not suggest for lipomas versus liposarcomas.
Remmelink
M
M
Department of Pathology, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
Salmon
I
I
Goldschmidt
D
D
Decaestecker
C
C
Petein
M
M
Pasteels
J L
JL
Kiss
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018231:Leiomyomatosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D007890:Leiomyosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D016014:Linear Models; D008067:Lipoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011003:Ploidies; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics
D002843:Chromatin; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; C007722:Feulgen stain; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes