Stereologic estimation of mean nuclear volume in well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and carcinoma in situ of the gallbladder

OBJECTIVE: To investigate mean nuclear volume of cells in well-differentiat ed adenocarcinomas (20 cases) and cat carcinoma in situ (20 cases) of the g allbladder by the principle of estimation of the volume of particles with a rbitrary shapes. STUDY DESIGN: Hematoxylin and eosin-stained, 4-mu m-thick, vertical section s from formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue blocks were analyzed by usi ng a projection microscope With a 100:1 oil immersion objective (NA 1.3); t he final magnification teas 2,500:1. The measurements ic,ere carried out in 10 microscopic fields for each slide. Mean nuclear volume was obtained by the stereologic method of point-sampled intercepts for vertical sections. RESULTS: Mean nuclear volume in well-differentiated adenacarcinomas (127.67 +/- 46.95 mu m(3)) was significantly larger than in carcinoma in situ (69. 17 +/- 15.74 mu m(3)) (P <.000001). CONCLUSION: Stereologic estimation of mean nuclear volume may be helpful in the discrimination of malignant and borderline lesions of the gallbladder.