C. Giardina et al., NUCLEAR MORPHOMETRY IN SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA (SCC) OF THE TONGUE, European journal of cancer. Part B, Oral oncology, 32B(2), 1996, pp. 91-96
In the histological grading of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) nuc
lear features are very important. Nevertheless evaluation is usually p
erformed in a subjective and not highly reproducible way. The aim of t
his work was to investigate the relationship between nuclear shape and
survival in 30 cases of carcinoma of the tongue. All the patients wer
e divided into two groups: short-term survival and long-term survival.
Twenty nuclei for each tumour were submitted to a morphometrical stud
y by the shape analytical morphometry (SAM) software system. It was th
us possible to evaluate not only nuclear dimensions but also nuclear c
ontour irregularities and nuclear shape asymmetries. Multivariate disc
riminant analysis (MDA) of the quantitative parameters obtained by the
morphometrical study distinguished the patients of the two groups wit
h only a 10% error; moreover successful cluster analysis was performed
by using Fourier parameters. Both these sets of results were achieved
mainly owing to the parameters for contour irregularities. (C) 1996 E
lsevier Science Ltd