Nuclear texture features for classifying benign vs. dysplastic or malignant squamous epithelium of the larynx

Objective: To search for nuclear features and feature combinations able to assess malignancy and premalignant changes on tissue sections of laryngeal squamous epithelium. Study Design: A total of 139 lesions of benign changes (BC) (n = 44), epith elial dysplasias (ED) (n = 50) and invasive laryngeal cancer (LC) (n = 45) were retrieved from archival pathology specimens. The goal of this study wa s to identify the best features or feature combinations that discriminate B C from LC and also reflect the degree of ED. In order to verify the results on independent data, the groups were split into two separate subgroups, on e for training and one for testing. Results: ON the test set of slides, the overall correct classification of B C vs. LV cases was 82% using only one feature, fractal2_area. This classifi cation rate could be increased to 91% when a discriminant function based on 10 features was used. However, this gain was not significant , Conclusions: Fractal texture features can be used to assess malignancy on t issue sections as an alternative to DNA measurement. In this study feature combinations did not significant improve classification rate.