CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NUCLEAR DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC-ACID CONTENT AND NUCLEAR MORPHOMETRY IN 71 PRIMARY CUTANEOUS MELANOMAS

Background: While the determination of nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) content (DNA ploidy level) and nuclear morphometry characterizati on has proved to be of prognostic value in melanocytic lesions, there are several ways of performing these determinations. Objective: To ide ntify which of 9 DNA ploidy- and 2 nuclear morphometry-related variabl es are of prognostic and/or diagnostic value in 71 primary melanomas. Methods: Histological typing, Breslow depth determination, the evaluat ion of Clark's level of invasion and the II quantitative variables (ca lculated in Feulgen-stained nuclei using computer-assisted microscope analysis) determined for each melanoma were submitted to discriminant analysis, Results: The discriminant analysis of image cytometric varia bles enabled specific cell subpopulations to be identified in histolog ical and the Breslow-related groups, but not in the Clark-related ones , Conclusion: The characterization of melanoma heterogeneity by means of the identification of specific DNA ploidy level-related cell subpop ulations in specific Breslow-related groups enables the problem of int ra- and interobserver variability in Breslow depth determination to be reduced and therefore can help dermatologists in their daily routine.