Digital karyometry in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize nuclei from pancreatic adenocarcinoma and nonneoplastic pancreatic tissue by digital karyometry, demonstrating specific nuclear signatures for each of them.


METHODS
Of cells from malignant and nonmalignant pancreatic tissue, 1,300 nuclei were assessed by digital karyometry from paraffin blocks stored at the Pathology Service of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre. A set of 40 features descriptive of the spatial and statistical distribution of nuclear chromatin was computed for each nucleus. Signatures were created for both types of tissue, and a distance metric from "normal" was defined and calculated for them.


RESULTS
There were significant differences in 11 features between the 2 groups, allowing the creation of digital signatures.


CONCLUSIONS
Nuclear chromatin texture signature can offer a specific digital characterization for both pancreatic adenocarcinoma and nonmalignant pancreatic tissue. Several isolated nuclear features serve as markers for the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The present karyometric study of normal and malignant pancreatic tissue may be of use as a continuing tool to early diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma as it can be applied to cytologic specimens, also. In the future, studies using this technique should assess the chemopreventive potential of different agents as well as prognosis and treatment options for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Medical School, RS, Brazil. bersch@uol.com.br
Vivian Pierri
VP
Bersch
Vinicius Duval
VD
da Silva
Alessandro Bersch
AB
Osvaldt
Mário Sérgio Borges
MS
da Costa
Luiz
L
Rohde
Diego
D
Mossmann
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D002843:Chromatin; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007620:Karyometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D016008:Statistical Distributions
D002843:Chromatin