Prospective evaluation of prognostic value of morphometry in patients with primary breast cancer.

Abstract

SUMMARY In a prospective study the predictive value of a multivariate morphometric prognostic index was evaluated in 195 patients with primary breast cancer who had not been treated with any form of chemotherapy or hormonal treatment. The presence or absence of distant tumour recurrence combined with the scores of the prognostic index were compared with the survival curves predicted in a previous study. The value of the presence of lymph node metastases, number of positive nodes, tumour size, mitotic activity index, and oestrogen receptor status in prediction of prognosis were also investigated.In agreement with the results of the previous retrospective study, the prospective use of the index had the strongest predictive prognostic value, followed by the mitotic activity index. Statistical analysis showed that the actual prognoses of 43 of the 195 patients (22%) were more accurately determined by the prognostic index rather than by using the presence of the lymph node metastases as the classifying variable.The prognostic index is consistently reproducible by different technicians; it is a reliable method of predicting distant recurrence of tumour and hence the prognosis of patients with primary breast carcinoma. It provides more prognostic information than the presence of lymph node metastases alone, and the index should be incdrporated in routine pathology reports.

Clinical Significance of Nuclear Morphometry at the Invasive Front of T1 Colorectal Cancer and Relation to Expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C

“…In many cancer tissues, including those of the breast, prostate, and pancreas, nuclear morphometry has been reported to be associated with the prognosis or metastatic potential [15, 16, 17, 18]. Mitmaker et al [19]reported that a large nuclear shape factor was a strong risk factor in the prognosis of colorectal cancer.…”

Prognostic differences of World Health Organization–assessed mitotic activity index and mitotic impression by quick scanning in invasive ductal breast cancer patients younger than 55 years

“…Many studies have shown that proliferation markers are accurate prognostic factors that exceed the prognostic value of classical prognosticators [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. This is especially true for the mitotic activity index (MAI) [5][6][7][8][9][10][12][13][14]16].…”

“…This is especially true for the mitotic activity index (MAI) [5][6][7][8][9][10][12][13][14]16]. Patients with rapidly proliferating tumors have been reported to benefit significantly from ASCT [17][18][19].…”

Absence of Prognostic Value of Nuclear Shape Factor Analysis in Colorectal Carcinoma: Relevance of Interobserver and Intraobserver Variability

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]19 Some of the authors claimed that quantitative morphometric analysis has the capability of measuring nuclear-related variables with objectivity. 11,13,20 Furthermore, it has been reported that morphometric analysis could improve the prediction of prognosis for several malignancies, including carcinomas of the ovary, 21 breast, 22 thyroid, 23 kidney, 24 bladder, 25 stomach, 26 and colon-rectum. 7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The NSF determined by nuclear morphometry appeared to have a promising prognostic significance in colorectal carcinoma.…”