1996 Volume 35 Issue 2 Pages 93-98
Morphometric analysis of tumor cells from pleural effusions was performed on three groups; 10 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MM, 7 epithelial type; Ep, and 3 biphasic type; Bi) and 10 cases of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (AC). This study was carried out using cytologic smears stained by the Papanicolaou method. We observed at least 18 randomly chosen cells from each case, and totals of 174 Ep cells, 84 Bi cells, and 271 AC cells were analyzed. The smears were observed with a light microscope at a magnification of 400 x, and were photographed. Cytoplasmic and nuclear areas, as well as the nuclear unevenness index (NUI), were measured by a LUZEX III image processor-analyzer (NIRECO Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). From these parameters, nucleo-cytoplasmic (N/C) area ratios were calculated. The NUI reflects the degree of nuclear contour unevenness, and was calculated as follows:
NUI= 100L2/(4πS).
L=nuclear circumference, S= nuclear area.
There were no significant differences between Ep and Bi. The cytoplasmic area of MM (Ep 389.4±244.0μm2, Bi 351.8±312.1μm2) was significantly smaller than that of AC (468.0±275.5μm2). The nuclear area of MM (Ep 92.6±44.4μm2, Bi 88.7±36.8μm2) was significantly smaller than that of AC (136.6±65.4μm2). The NUI of MM (Ep 113.0±6.6, Bi 114.7±9.4) was significantly smaller than that of AC (120.0±11.1), indicating that the nuclear shape of MM was more circular than that of AC. There were no significant differences in N/C area ratios among the three groups. According to the mean value of the nuclear number in each tumor cell, MM (Ep 1.55±0.30, Bi 1.50±0.40) tended to have more multinuclear cells than AC (1.22±0.11).
Morphometric analysis of tumor cells in effusions provides pathologists with quantitative information which can be applied in making a differential diagnosis between MM and AC.
