Role of computed quantitation of immunohistochemical staining of Ki-67 antigen in diagnosing ampullary lesions.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the possible role of Ki-67 antigen expression by visual and computed quantitation in diagnosing ampullary lesions.


METHODS
Twenty-two cases of ampullary lesions treated at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital between 1989 and 1994 were analyzed. Four cases of adenoma, 4 of epithelial dysplasia in adenoma, 7 of well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and 7 of high grade adenocarcinoma were included. For each case three consecutive sections were obtained from the paraffin-embedded blocks. The first slide was stained with hematoxylin & eosin for visual diagnosis; the other two were immunoprocessed to evaluate the expression of Ki-67 antigen. Visual quantitation of Ki-67 was evaluated by light microscopy, and computed quantitation was performed utilizing the SAMBA 4000 cell image analysis system.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical analysis of the ampullary lesions showed a positive correlation of Ki-67 expression, both by visual and computed quantitation, with biologic grade. The cell proliferation sequence was carcinoma, adenoma with dysplasia and adenomia.


CONCLUSIONS
Ki-67 antigen expression correlated highly with the progression of malignancy in ampullary lesions. Computed quantitation of Ki-67 was more sensitive than visual quantitation, especially in differentiating between low and high grade adenocarcinomas.
Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107-5244, USA.
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Minimo
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McCue
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Pindzola
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Brennan
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Bibbo
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D000236:Adenoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D014670:Ampulla of Vater / Q000737:chemistry*; D003138:Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen