Abstract
In order to elucidate pathological differences between the benign follicular tumors and follicular carcinomas of the thyroid, we carried out a combined, quantitative analysis of DNA content and nuclear morphology. We employed a recently developed system in which an autostaging cytofluorometer was combined with an image processor. Using the present system, we carried out correlated cytofluorometric and nuclear morphometric analysis on 5 adenomatous hyperplasias, 12 follicular adenomas and 12 follicular carinomas of the thyroid. The cytocentrifuged smears from these specimens were stained with propidium iodide for nuclear DNA. The cells in S-G2 phases were more frequent in carcinomas than in hyperplasias and adenomas, while the nuclear DNA content histogram pattern of some carcinomas was similar to that of hyperplasias and adenomas. On the other hand, nuclear morphometric parameters (area, perimeter, DNA content per area, shape constant, etc.) of diploid malignant cells have wider variations compared to those of the diploid cells of benign tumors. It therefore appears that the combined analysis of the nuclear morphometry and DNA cytofluorometry would provide a useful means for elucidating differences between the benign and malignant tumors of the thyroid.
