Quantitative analysis of nucleolar margination in diagnostic cytopathology

Abstract

The diagnostic value of nucleolar margination, defined as the percentage of nucleoli touching the nuclear membrane, was investigated in 359 cytological preparations of benign and malignant lesions of the thyroid, breast, prostate and central nervous system. Premalignant lesions of the uterine cervix and non-invasive papillary carcinomas of the bladder were also examined. It was observed that the percentages in benign lesions were, in general, lower than in the malignant and that the values increased progressively with increasing grade in the cervix and bladder. When the overlap index was calculated, this gave exact information on the usefulness of nucleolar margination in distinguishing benign from malignant lesions, particularly in the prostate and thyroid and, to a lesser extent, in the breast and central nervous system. As for lesions of different grades, the calculation of the index allowed the identification of two subgroups, one corresponding to low grades (mild cervical dysplasia or urothelial papillary carcinoma of grade 1), the other subgroup to high grades (severe cervical dysplasia and carcinoma in situ, or papillary carcinoma of grade 3). Moderate dysplasia cases and grade 2 papillary carcinomas do not appear as separate intermediate categories but rather show values falling into the range of either the higher or lower grades. The margination values obtained from the cytological preparations corresponded well to those in the histological slides obtained from the resected specimens. In conclusion, nucleolar margination appears to be a feature which is easy to evaluate in a reproducible way and useful in cytological diagnosis.

Ultrastructural evaluation of the radioprotective effects of melatonin against X‐ray‐induced skin damage in Albino rats

“…Moreover, the presence of nucleolar margination in the irradiated cells is indicative of increased protein synthesis and nucleocytoplasmic exchange (Montironi et al . 1991a, b, c). This nucleolar segregation probably reflects DNA binding and inhibition of DNA‐dependant RNA synthesis (Reddy & Svoboda 1968; Zatsepina et al .…”

“…The presence of chromatin margination and segregation in the irradiated cells is indicative of increased nuclear‐cytoplasmic exchange, rapid growth and increased metabolism (Montironi et al . 1991a, b, c; Love & Soriano 1971; Ghadially et al . 1985; Teodori et al .…”

Impact of citrate- and chitosan-capped gold nanoparticles on the liver of Swiss albino mice: Histological and cyto-genotoxic study

“…In addition, margination of nucleoli was also noticed in this group. Nucleolar margination is a sign of increased protein synthesis and is frequently seen in variety of cancer cells (78,84). The histological picture of animals treated once with AuNPs, suggests that both citrate-and chitosan-capped AuNPs produce noxious effects to the liver.…”

Differential Diagnosis of Hürthle Cell Neoplasms on Fine Needle Aspirates

“…20 A surprising finding was a significant difference between the eccentricity of both nuclei and nucleoli between adenomas and carcinomas, when all cells and nuclei from adenomas were compared with those of carcinomas. Even more surprising was the fact that the nucleoli of adenomas were more eccentric than those of carcinomas because Montironi et al 57 found that nucleolar margination characterizes follicular carcinomas. This discrepancy may be explained by differences in eccentricity measure (centroid position differences in our study vs. frequency of nucleoli touching the nuclear border in the Montironi study 57 ).…”

“…Even more surprising was the fact that the nucleoli of adenomas were more eccentric than those of carcinomas because Montironi et al 57 found that nucleolar margination characterizes follicular carcinomas. This discrepancy may be explained by differences in eccentricity measure (centroid position differences in our study vs. frequency of nucleoli touching the nuclear border in the Montironi study 57 ). Alternatively, there may be intrinsic differences between follicular and Hürthle cell carcinomas in nucleolar eccentricity as a marker of malignancy.…”