Textural analysis in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast cells.
OBJECTIVE
To study the discriminatory capacity of textural variables to classify the nuclei of breast tumor cells as benign or malignant, using a statistical approach.


METHODS
Image analysis techniques were used to automatically segment nuclei of cells obtained by fine needle aspiration and Papanicolaou stained. The sample comprised 95 cases of malignant lesions and 47 cases of benign lesions (approximately 25 nuclei per case), and 27 textural variables were measured. Two methods were used to analyze the data: classification and regression trees (CART) and discriminant analysis.


RESULTS
The variance in gray levels was the most decisive variable in the CART analysis, correctly classifying 57% and 97% of benign and malignant cases, respectively. Discriminant analysis yielded the best results, correctly classifying 79% and 85% of benign and malignant cases, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The classifier obtained by a statistical approach to the textural analysis of Papanicolaou-stained nuclei did not prove useful for diagnostic discrimination. Staining techniques that are not chromatin specific are highly variable, and other features have proven more effective with this type of staining.
Herrera Espiñeira
Carmen
C
Research, Quality and Teaching Unit, Virgen del las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, Spain. cherrerae@fundacionhvn.org
Fernández Valdivia
Joaquín
J
López-Cuervo
Javier Esquivias
JE
Martínez Tapias
Jesús
J
D000465:Algorithms; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D018226:Fibroadenoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D019044:Image Cytometry; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014626:Vaginal Smears