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Zhang X, Venkatachalapathy S, Paysan D, Schaerer P, Tripodo C, Uhler C, Shivashankar GV. Unsupervised representation learning of chromatin images identifies changes in cell state and tissue organization in DCIS. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6112. [PMID: 39030176 PMCID: PMC11271523 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50285-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a pre-invasive tumor that can progress to invasive breast cancer, a leading cause of cancer death. We generate a large-scale tissue microarray dataset of chromatin images, from 560 samples from 122 female patients in 3 disease stages and 11 phenotypic categories. Using representation learning on chromatin images alone, without multiplexed staining or high-throughput sequencing, we identify eight morphological cell states and tissue features marking DCIS. All cell states are observed in all disease stages with different proportions, indicating that cell states enriched in invasive cancer exist in small fractions in normal breast tissue. Tissue-level analysis reveals significant changes in the spatial organization of cell states across disease stages, which is predictive of disease stage and phenotypic category. Taken together, we show that chromatin imaging represents a powerful measure of cell state and disease stage of DCIS, providing a simple and effective tumor biomarker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA
| | - Saradha Venkatachalapathy
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Paysan
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Paulina Schaerer
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Claudio Tripodo
- Tumor Immunology Unit, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- IFOM, FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan, Italy
| | - Caroline Uhler
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA.
| | - G V Shivashankar
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
- Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.
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2
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Schirmer EC, Latonen L, Tollis S. Nuclear size rectification: A potential new therapeutic approach to reduce metastasis in cancer. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:1022723. [PMID: 36299481 PMCID: PMC9589484 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1022723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Research on metastasis has recently regained considerable interest with the hope that single cell technologies might reveal the most critical changes that support tumor spread. However, it is possible that part of the answer has been visible through the microscope for close to 200 years. Changes in nuclear size characteristically occur in many cancer types when the cells metastasize. This was initially discarded as contributing to the metastatic spread because, depending on tumor types, both increases and decreases in nuclear size could correlate with increased metastasis. However, recent work on nuclear mechanics and the connectivity between chromatin, the nucleoskeleton, and the cytoskeleton indicate that changes in this connectivity can have profound impacts on cell mobility and invasiveness. Critically, a recent study found that reversing tumor type-dependent nuclear size changes correlated with reduced cell migration and invasion. Accordingly, it seems appropriate to now revisit possible contributory roles of nuclear size changes to metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric C. Schirmer
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Leena Latonen
- Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
- Foundation for the Finnish Cancer Institute, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sylvain Tollis
- Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
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Bushel PR, Ward J, Burkholder A, Li J, Anchang B. Mitochondrial-nuclear epistasis underlying phenotypic variation in breast cancer pathology. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1393. [PMID: 35082309 PMCID: PMC8791930 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05148-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The interplay between genes harboring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is vital to better understand underlying contributions to the etiology of breast cancer. Much attention has been paid to epistasis between nuclear genes or mutations in the mitochondrial genome. However, there is limited understanding about the epistatic effects of genetic variants in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes jointly on breast cancer. We tested the interaction of germline SNPs in the mitochondrial (mtSNPs) and nuclear (nuSNPs) genomes of female breast cancer patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) for association with morphological features extracted from hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained pathology images. We identified 115 significant (q-value < 0.05) mito-nuclear interactions that increased nuclei size by as much as 12%. One interaction between nuSNP rs17320521 in an intron of the WSC Domain Containing 2 (WSCD2) gene and mtSNP rs869096886, a synonymous variant mapped to the mitochondrially-encoded NADH dehydrogenase 4 (MT-ND4) gene, was confirmed in an independent breast cancer data set from the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC). None of the 10 mito-nuclear interactions identified from non-diseased female breast tissues from the Genotype-Expression (GTEx) project resulted in an increase in nuclei size. Comparisons of gene expression data from the TCGA breast cancer patients with the genotype homozygous for the minor alleles of the SNPs in WSCD2 and MT-ND4 versus the other genotypes revealed core transcriptional regulator interactions and an association with insulin. Finally, a Cox proportional hazards ratio = 1.7 (C.I. 0.98-2.9, p-value = 0.042) and Kaplan-Meier plot suggest that the TCGA female breast cancer patients with low gene expression of WSCD2 coupled with large nuclei have an increased risk of mortality. The intergenomic dependency between the two variants may constitute an inherent susceptibility of a more severe form of breast cancer and points to genetic targets for further investigation of additional determinants of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre R Bushel
- Massive Genome Informatics Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
- Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
| | - James Ward
- Integrative Bioinformatics Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
- Kelly Government Solutions, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Adam Burkholder
- Office of Environmental Science Cyberinfrastructure, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Jianying Li
- Massive Genome Informatics Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
- Integrative Bioinformatics Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
- Kelly Government Solutions, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Benedict Anchang
- Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
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4
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Katayama A, Toss MS, Parkin M, Sano T, Oyama T, Quinn CM, Ellis IO, Rakha EA. Nuclear morphology in breast lesions: refining its assessment to improve diagnostic concordance. Histopathology 2021; 80:515-528. [PMID: 34605058 DOI: 10.1111/his.14577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although evaluation of nuclear morphology plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and categorisation of breast lesions, the criteria used to assess nuclear atypia rely on the subjective evaluation of several features that may result in inter- and intra-observer variation. This study aims to refine the definitions of cytonuclear features in various breast lesions. METHODS ImageJ was used to assess the nuclear morphological features including nuclear diameter, axis length, perimeter, area, circularity, and roundness in 160 breast lesions comprising ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (IBC-NST), tubular carcinoma, usual ductal hyperplasia (UDH), columnar cell change (CCC) and flat epithelial atypia (FEA). Reference cells included normal epithelial cells, red blood cells (RBCs) and lymphocytes. RESULTS Reference cells showed size differences not only between normal epithelial cells and RBCs but also between RBCs in varied-sized blood vessels. Nottingham grade nuclear pleomorphism scores 1 and 3 cut-offs in IBC, compared to normal epithelial cells, were <1.2x and >1.4x that of mean maximum Feret's diameter and <1.6x and >2.4x that of mean nuclear area, respectively. Nuclear morphometrics were significantly different in low-grade IBC-NST vs. tubular carcinoma, low-grade DCIS vs. UDH, and in CCC vs. FEA. No differences in the nuclear features between grade matched DCIS and IBC were identified. CONCLUSION This study provides a guide for the assessment of nuclear atypia in breast lesions, refines the comparison with reference cells and highlights the potential diagnostic value of image analysis tools in the era of digital pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayaka Katayama
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.,Diagnostic Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan
| | - Michael S Toss
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
| | - Matthew Parkin
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
| | - Takaaki Sano
- Diagnostic Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan
| | - Tetsunari Oyama
- Diagnostic Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan
| | - Cecily M Quinn
- Department of Histopathology, St Vincent's University Hospital, University College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Ian O Ellis
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.,Department of Histopathology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
| | - Emad A Rakha
- Translational Medical Sciences Unit, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.,Department of Histopathology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
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Kalhan S, Garg S, Satarkar R, Sharma P, Hasija S, Sharma S. Correlation of Nuclear Morphometry with Clinicopathologic Parameters in Malignant Breast Aspirates. South Asian J Cancer 2021; 10:64-68. [PMID: 34568216 PMCID: PMC8460348 DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1731583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives The primary objective of this study was to correlate nuclear morphometric parameters with clinicopathologic features such as cytologic grade, tumor size, lymph node status, mitotic index, and histopathologic grade. Secondary objective was to quantify nuclear changes on malignant breast aspirates using morphometry. Material and Methods Forty-five cases of carcinoma breast diagnosed on cytology were included in this study. These were graded into cytologic grades 1, 2, and 3 as per Robinson's cytologic grading system. Nuclear morphometry was done in all cases on smears stained with Papanicolaou stain. Clinicopathologic parameters including cytological grade, tumor size, lymph node status, mitotic count, and histological grade were correlated with nuclear morphometric parameters, namely, area, perimeter, shape, long axis, short axis, intensity, long-run emphasis, total run length, and T1 homogeneity. Results There were 9 cases in cytologic grade 1, 26 in grade 2, and 10 cases in cytologic grade 3. Histopathology showed 42 cases of infiltrating duct carcinoma, not otherwise specified (IDC, NOS) and 3 cases (6.7%) of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). IDC (NOS) included 6, 27, and 9 cases in grades 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Majority of our cases had a tumor size less than 5 cm ( n = 38, 84.4%) and had positive nodes ( n = 30, 66.7%). Correlation of cytologic and histopathologic grades (including DCIS) with all morphometric features except long-run emphasis was statistically significant. Correlation of morphometry with tumor size yielded significant results for nuclear area, perimeter, long and short axes, and intensity with p < 0.05. Study of lymph node status (positive/negative) versus morphometry showed a highly significant statistical association with all the geometric as well as textural parameters. Mitotic count was significantly associated with all the geometric parameters and one textural parameter (total run length). Statistics Continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation and compared using the two-tailed, independent sample t -test and one-way analysis of variance test. Tests were performed at significance level of 0.05. Conclusion Morphometry is an objective technique which holds immense promise in prognostication in breast carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivani Kalhan
- Department of Pathology, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar, Haryana, India
| | - Shilpa Garg
- Department of Pathology, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar, Haryana, India
| | - Rahul Satarkar
- Department of Pathology, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar, Haryana, India
| | - Puja Sharma
- Department of Pathology, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar, Haryana, India
| | - Sonia Hasija
- Department of Pathology, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar, Haryana, India
| | - Sonia Sharma
- Department of Pathology, Army Hospital (Research & Referral), New Delhi, India
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Hayward MK, Louise Jones J, Hall A, King L, Ironside AJ, Nelson AC, Shelley Hwang E, Weaver VM. Derivation of a nuclear heterogeneity image index to grade DCIS. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 18:4063-4070. [PMID: 33363702 PMCID: PMC7744935 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.11.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormalities in cell nuclear morphology are a hallmark of cancer. Histological assessment of cell nuclear morphology is frequently used by pathologists to grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Objective methods that allow standardization and reproducibility of cell nuclear morphology assessment have potential to improve the criteria needed to predict DCIS progression and recurrence. Aggressive cancers are highly heterogeneous. We asked whether cell nuclear morphology heterogeneity could be incorporated into a metric to classify DCIS. We developed a nuclear heterogeneity image index to objectively, and quantitatively grade DCIS. A whole-tissue cell nuclear morphological analysis, that classified tumors by the worst ten percent in a duct-by-duct manner, identified nuclear size ranges associated with each DCIS grade. Digital image analysis further revealed increasing heterogeneity within ducts or between ducts in tissues of worsening DCIS grade. The findings illustrate how digital image analysis comprises a supplemental tool for pathologists to objectively classify DCIS and in the future, may provide a method to predict patient outcome through analysis of nuclear heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary-Kate Hayward
- Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - J. Louise Jones
- Center for Tumor Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, John Vane Science Building, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK
| | - Allison Hall
- Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Lorraine King
- Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Andrew C. Nelson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - E. Shelley Hwang
- Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Valerie M. Weaver
- Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Department of Radiation Oncology, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, and The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
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7
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Chaurasia JK, Gupta V, Mayank V, Tiwari IR, Joshi D, Goel G, Kapoor N. Role of nuclear morphometry in diagnosis of salivary gland neoplasms. Diagn Cytopathol 2020; 48:1181-1193. [PMID: 32634293 DOI: 10.1002/dc.24535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fine needle aspiration cytology is an important diagnostic tool in salivary gland cytopathology. However, cytology of salivary gland neoplasms shows diversity with morphological overlap, heterogeneity and subjective variability, posing diagnostic challenge. Nuclear cytomorphometric image analysis turns the subjective criteria into quantitative parameters, which may aid not only in differentiating between benign and malignant tumours but also can aid in categorising challenging cases with morphological overlap. METHODS A retrospective analysis of Papanicolaou stained fine needle aspirate smears from 50 patients with salivary gland neoplasms, with available follow-up histopathology, was performed. The aspirates were categorised in to three neoplastic categories of Milan system for reporting salivary gland cytology (MSRSGC) that is benign neoplasm, salivary gland neoplasm with uncertain malignant potential, and malignant. The smears were subjected to cytomorphometric image analysis using Image Pro Software (version 10). Each nucleus was analysed for 13 parameters including aspect ratio, intensity, diameter, perimeter, roundness, area, Feret diameter, circularity, radii, Fournier description and chromatin texture characteristics such as margination, heterogeneity and clumpiness. The data obtained was compared through relevant statistical methods. RESULTS The comparative morphometric data obtained for parameters using ANOVA, for the three categories showed statistically significant P values (<0.001). The post hoc test (Games-Howel) test also showed significant P values (<.001). CONCLUSION Cytomorphometric image analysis is an important tool in diagnosis of salivary gland neoplasms and can improve the diagnostic accuracy for better treatment and improved prognosis. However, more studies with larger sample size may be needed in future for further affirming its role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jai Kumar Chaurasia
- Department of Pathology and laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
| | - Vikas Gupta
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
| | - Vipul Mayank
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
| | | | - Deepti Joshi
- Department of Pathology and laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
| | - Garima Goel
- Department of Pathology and laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
| | - Neelkamal Kapoor
- Department of Pathology and laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, India
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Setthawongsin C, Tangkawattana S, Rungsipipat A, Techangamsuwan S. Computerized Cytomorphometric and Cytomorphological Analysis of Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumours. J Comp Pathol 2018; 163:18-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2018.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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9
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Kashyap A, Jain M, Shukla S, Andley M. Role of Nuclear Morphometry in Breast Cancer and its Correlation with Cytomorphological Grading of Breast Cancer: A Study of 64 Cases. J Cytol 2018; 35:41-45. [PMID: 29403169 PMCID: PMC5795727 DOI: 10.4103/joc.joc_237_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple, rapid, inexpensive, and reliable method of diagnosis of breast mass. Cytoprognostic grading in breast cancers is important to identify high-grade tumors. Computer-assisted image morphometric analysis has been developed to quantitate as well as standardize various grading systems. Aims: To apply nuclear morphometry on cytological aspirates of breast cancer and evaluate its correlation with cytomorphological grading with derivation of suitable cutoff values between various grades. Settings and Designs: Descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study. Materials and Methods: This study included 64 breast cancer cases (29 of grade 1, 22 of grade 2, and 13 of grade 3). Image analysis was performed on Papanicolaou stained FNAC slides by NIS –Elements Advanced Research software (Ver 4.00). Nuclear morphometric parameters analyzed included 5 nuclear size, 2 shape, 4 texture, and 2 density parameters. Results: Nuclear size parameters showed an increase in values with increasing cytological grades of carcinoma. Nuclear shape parameters were not found to be significantly different between the three grades. Among nuclear texture parameters, sum intensity, and sum brightness were found to be different between the three grades. Conclusion: Nuclear morphometry can be applied to augment the cytology grading of breast cancer and thus help in classifying patients into low and high-risk groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anamika Kashyap
- Department of Pathology, Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi, India
| | - Manjula Jain
- Department of Pathology, Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi, India
| | - Shailaja Shukla
- Department of Pathology, Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi, India
| | - Manoj Andley
- Department of Surgery, Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi, India
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10
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Breaking the scale: how disrupting the karyoplasmic ratio gives cancer cells an advantage for metastatic invasion. Biochem Soc Trans 2017; 45:1333-1344. [PMID: 29150524 DOI: 10.1042/bst20170153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2017] [Revised: 09/28/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Nuclear size normally scales with the size of the cell, but in cancer this 'karyoplasmic ratio' is disrupted. This is particularly so in more metastatic tumors where changes in the karyoplasmic ratio are used in both diagnosis and prognosis for several tumor types. However, the direction of nuclear size changes differs for particular tumor types: for example in breast cancer, larger nuclear size correlates with increased metastasis, while for lung cancer smaller nuclear size correlates with increased metastasis. Thus, there must be tissue-specific drivers of the nuclear size changes, but proteins thus far linked to nuclear size regulation are widely expressed. Notably, for these tumor types, ploidy changes have been excluded as the basis for nuclear size changes, and so, the increased metastasis is more likely to have a basis in the nuclear morphology change itself. We review what is known about nuclear size regulation and postulate how such nuclear size changes can increase metastasis and why the directionality can differ for particular tumor types.
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Oliver PAK, Thomson RM. A Monte Carlo study of macroscopic and microscopic dose descriptors for kilovoltage cellular dosimetry. Phys Med Biol 2017; 62:1417-1436. [PMID: 28114113 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/aa5136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
This work investigates how doses to cellular targets depend on cell morphology, as well as relations between cellular doses and doses to bulk tissues and water. Multicellular models of five healthy and cancerous soft tissues are developed based on typical values of cell compartment sizes, elemental compositions and number densities found in the literature. Cells are modelled as two concentric spheres with nucleus and cytoplasm compartments. Monte Carlo simulations are used to calculate the absorbed dose to the nucleus and cytoplasm for incident photon energies of 20-370 keV, relevant for brachytherapy, diagnostic radiology, and out-of-field radiation in higher-energy external beam radiotherapy. Simulations involving cell clusters, single cells and single nuclear cavities are carried out for cell radii between 5 and [Formula: see text]m, and nuclear radii between 2 and [Formula: see text]m. Seven nucleus and cytoplasm elemental compositions representative of animal cells are considered. The presence of a cytoplasm, extracellular matrix and surrounding cells can affect the nuclear dose by up to [Formula: see text]. Differences in cell and nucleus size can affect dose to the nucleus (cytoplasm) of the central cell in a cluster of 13 cells by up to [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]). Furthermore, the results of this study demonstrate that neither water nor bulk tissue are reliable substitutes for subcellular targets for incident photon energies <50 keV: nuclear (cytoplasm) doses differ from dose-to-medium by up to [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]), and from dose-to-water by up to [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]). The largest differences between dose descriptors are seen for the lowest incident photon energies; differences are less than [Formula: see text] for energies [Formula: see text]90 keV. The sensitivity of results with regard to the parameters of the microscopic tissue structure model and cell model geometry, and the importance of the nucleus and cytoplasm as targets for radiation-induced cell death emphasize the importance of accurate models for cellular dosimetry studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- P A K Oliver
- Department of Physics, Carleton Laboratory for Radiotherapy Physics, Carleton University, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, Canada
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12
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Edens LJ, Levy DL. A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation. J Vis Exp 2016. [PMID: 27584618 DOI: 10.3791/54173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A fundamental question in cell biology is how cell and organelle sizes are regulated. It has long been recognized that the size of the nucleus generally scales with the size of the cell, notably during embryogenesis when dramatic reductions in both cell and nuclear sizes occur. Mechanisms of nuclear size regulation are largely unknown and may be relevant to cancer where altered nuclear size is a key diagnostic and prognostic parameter. In vivo approaches to identifying nuclear size regulators are complicated by the essential and complex nature of nuclear function. The in vitro approach described here to study nuclear size control takes advantage of the normal reductions in nuclear size that occur during Xenopus laevis development. First, nuclei are assembled in X. laevis egg extract. Then, these nuclei are isolated and resuspended in cytoplasm from late stage embryos. After a 30 - 90 min incubation period, nuclear surface area decreases by 20 - 60%, providing a useful assay to identify cytoplasmic components present in late stage embryos that contribute to developmental nuclear size scaling. A major advantage of this approach is the relative facility with which the egg and embryo extracts can be biochemically manipulated, allowing for the identification of novel proteins and activities that regulate nuclear size. As with any in vitro approach, validation of results in an in vivo system is important, and microinjection of X. laevis embryos is particularly appropriate for these studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa J Edens
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming
| | - Daniel L Levy
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming;
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13
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Russo J. Reproductive history and breast cancer prevention. Horm Mol Biol Clin Investig 2016; 27:3-10. [PMID: 27518906 DOI: 10.1515/hmbci-2016-0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The hormonal milieu of an early full-term pregnancy induces lobular development, completing the cycle of differentiation of the breast. This process induces a specific genomic signature in the mammary gland that is represented by the stem cell containing a heterochomatin condensed nucleus (HTN). Even though differentiation significantly reduces cell proliferation in the mammary gland, the mammary epithelium remains capable of responding with proliferation to given stimuli, such as a new pregnancy. The stem cell HTN is able to metabolize the carcinogen and repair the induced DNA damage more efficiently than the stem cell containing an euchromatinic structure (EUN), as it has been demonstrated in the rodent experimental system. The basic biological concept is that pregnancy shifts the stem cell EUN to the stem cell HTN that is refractory to carcinogenesis. Data generated by the use of cDNA micro array techniques have allowed to demonstrate that while lobular development regressed after pregnancy and lactation, programmed cell death genes, DNA repair genes, chromatin remodeling, transcription factors and immune-surveillance gene transcripts all of these genes are upregulated and are part of the genomic signature of pregnancy that is associated with the preventive effect of this physiological process.
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Bansal C, Gupta A, Kumar A, Srivastava A. Morphometric evaluation and clinical correlations in pediatric malignant small round cell tumors. Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2014; 35:267-70. [PMID: 25538403 PMCID: PMC4264272 DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.144987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims: Nuclear size increases in malignant tumors and reflects DNA content, ploidy and proliferation index. Present study investigated if the nuclear morphometry could differentiate histomorphologically similar paediatric malignant small round cell tumors on hematoxylin and eosin stained sections for diagnostics in a resource poor setting. Settings and Design: All the consecutive malignant pediatric tumors received in Pathology Department from other faculties of King George's Medical University and also those referred directly to Pathology Department from other hospitals of city/other cities during 3 years period were recorded. Materials and Methods: Morphometric analysis was done in 22 confirmed (by higher ancillary techniques) but histomorphologically difficult to differentiate round cell tumors. All sections were analyzed by cell images from six different areas, using Leica Q win 500 images software. Results: Nuclear measurements were obtained for retinoblastoma (RB) (nine cases), neuroblastoma (five cases), Wilms tumor (WT) (three cases), rhabdomyosarcoma (three cases), malignant hemangiopericytoma (one case) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (one case). Among the RBs, maximum mean nuclear area percent (24.93) was seen in a case with nerve involvement and metastasis, followed by cases with only nerve involvement (21.60) and smallest area (16.57) was in non-nerve involving, nonmetastatic cases. All five cases of neuroblastoma had almost similar mean nuclear area percent (18.05-18.29). WT case with metastasis had higher nuclear area (21.25) than nonmetastatic (19.47). Amongst all the tumors, minimum value (14.93) was seen in malignant hemangiopericytoma. Conclusion: Morphometric evaluation in paediatric malignant round cell tumors have generated useful data, and needs further multicentric confirmation for implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cherry Bansal
- Department of Pathology, Era's Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Archana Gupta
- Department of Pathology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Archana Kumar
- Department of Pediatrics, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Anand Srivastava
- Department of Pathology, Era's Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
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15
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Dong F, Irshad H, Oh EY, Lerwill MF, Brachtel EF, Jones NC, Knoblauch NW, Montaser-Kouhsari L, Johnson NB, Rao LKF, Faulkner-Jones B, Wilbur DC, Schnitt SJ, Beck AH. Computational pathology to discriminate benign from malignant intraductal proliferations of the breast. PLoS One 2014; 9:e114885. [PMID: 25490766 PMCID: PMC4260962 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 11/13/2014] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The categorization of intraductal proliferative lesions of the breast based on routine light microscopic examination of histopathologic sections is in many cases challenging, even for experienced pathologists. The development of computational tools to aid pathologists in the characterization of these lesions would have great diagnostic and clinical value. As a first step to address this issue, we evaluated the ability of computational image analysis to accurately classify DCIS and UDH and to stratify nuclear grade within DCIS. Using 116 breast biopsies diagnosed as DCIS or UDH from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), we developed a computational method to extract 392 features corresponding to the mean and standard deviation in nuclear size and shape, intensity, and texture across 8 color channels. We used L1-regularized logistic regression to build classification models to discriminate DCIS from UDH. The top-performing model contained 22 active features and achieved an AUC of 0.95 in cross-validation on the MGH data-set. We applied this model to an external validation set of 51 breast biopsies diagnosed as DCIS or UDH from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the model achieved an AUC of 0.86. The top-performing model contained active features from all color-spaces and from the three classes of features (morphology, intensity, and texture), suggesting the value of each for prediction. We built models to stratify grade within DCIS and obtained strong performance for stratifying low nuclear grade vs. high nuclear grade DCIS (AUC = 0.98 in cross-validation) with only moderate performance for discriminating low nuclear grade vs. intermediate nuclear grade and intermediate nuclear grade vs. high nuclear grade DCIS (AUC = 0.83 and 0.69, respectively). These data show that computational pathology models can robustly discriminate benign from malignant intraductal proliferative lesions of the breast and may aid pathologists in the diagnosis and classification of these lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Dong
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Humayun Irshad
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Eun-Yeong Oh
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Melinda F. Lerwill
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Elena F. Brachtel
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Nicholas C. Jones
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Nicholas W. Knoblauch
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Laleh Montaser-Kouhsari
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Nicole B. Johnson
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Luigi K. F. Rao
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Beverly Faulkner-Jones
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - David C. Wilbur
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Stuart J. Schnitt
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Andrew H. Beck
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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16
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Russo J, Santucci-Pereira J, Russo IH. The genomic signature of breast cancer prevention. Genes (Basel) 2014; 5:65-83. [PMID: 24705287 PMCID: PMC3978512 DOI: 10.3390/genes5010065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2013] [Revised: 01/31/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The breast of parous postmenopausal women exhibits a specific signature that has been induced by a full term pregnancy. This signature is centered in chromatin remodeling and the epigenetic changes induced by methylation of specific genes which are important regulatory pathways induced by pregnancy. Through the analysis of the genes found to be differentially methylated between women of varying parity, multiple positions at which beta-catenin production and use is inhibited were recognized. The biological importance of the pathways identified in this specific population cannot be sufficiently emphasized because they could represent a safeguard mechanism mediating the protection of the breast conferred by full term pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose Russo
- The Irma H. Russo MD Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System, 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
| | - Julia Santucci-Pereira
- The Irma H. Russo MD Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System, 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
| | - Irma H Russo
- The Irma H. Russo MD Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System, 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA
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17
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Jevtić P, Levy DL. Mechanisms of nuclear size regulation in model systems and cancer. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2014; 773:537-69. [PMID: 24563365 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-8032-8_25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Changes in nuclear size have long been used by cytopathologists as an important parameter to diagnose, stage, and prognose many cancers. Mechanisms underlying these changes and functional links between nuclear size and malignancy are largely unknown. Understanding mechanisms of nuclear size regulation and the physiological significance of proper nuclear size control will inform the interplay between altered nuclear size and oncogenesis. In this chapter we review what is known about molecular mechanisms of nuclear size control based on research in model experimental systems including yeast, Xenopus, Tetrahymena, Drosophila, plants, mice, and mammalian cell culture. We discuss how nuclear size is influenced by DNA ploidy, nuclear structural components, cytoplasmic factors and nucleocytoplasmic transport, the cytoskeleton, and the extracellular matrix. Based on these mechanistic insights, we speculate about how nuclear size might impact cell physiology and whether altered nuclear size could contribute to cancer development and progression. We end with some outstanding questions about mechanisms and functions of nuclear size regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Predrag Jevtić
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA,
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18
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de Las Heras JI, Schirmer EC. The nuclear envelope and cancer: a diagnostic perspective and historical overview. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2014; 773:5-26. [PMID: 24563341 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-8032-8_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Cancer has been diagnosed for millennia, but its cellular nature only began to be understood in the mid-nineteenth century when advances in microscopy allowed detailed specimen observations. It was soon noted that cancer cells often possessed nuclei that were altered in size and/or shape. This became an important criterion for cancer diagnosis that continues to be used today. The mechanisms linking nuclear abnormalities and cancer only started to be understood in the second half of the twentieth century, with the discovery of nuclear lamina composition differences in cancer cells compared to normal cells. The nuclear envelope, rather than providing a mere physical barrier between the genetic material in the nucleus and the cytoplasm, is a very important functional hub for many cellular processes. In this review we give an overview of the links between cancer biology and nuclear envelope, from the early days of microscopy until the present day's understanding of some of the molecular mechanisms behind those links.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose I de Las Heras
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Michael Swann Building, Room 5.21, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, UK,
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19
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Narasimha A, Vasavi B, Kumar HM. Significance of nuclear morphometry in benign and malignant breast aspirates. Int J Appl Basic Med Res 2013; 3:22-6. [PMID: 23776836 PMCID: PMC3678677 DOI: 10.4103/2229-516x.112237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2012] [Accepted: 10/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Breast carcinoma is one of the most common cancers occurring in the female population world-wide. Normal cells gradually transform to form the cancer cells through several stages. Nuclear changes occurring during these transformational steps need to be assessed objectively. Hence nuclear morphometry can be used as a diagnostic tool. Aim: To compare the nuclear morphometric parameters of benign and malignant breast aspirates. Study Design: Cytology was used to categorize aspirates from the breast lumps in to malignant (30 cases), and benign (30 cases). Nuclear parameters were calculated using the Image J 1.44C morphometric software. Several nuclear size parameters were analyzed. Results: The nuclear area, perimeter, diameter, compactness, and concave points were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) parameters in differentiating benign, and malignant aspirates. Conclusion: Nuclear morphometry was thus, a useful objective tool in the differentiating benign, and malignant breast lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aparna Narasimha
- Department of Pathology, Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Tamaka, Kolar, Karnataka, India
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20
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Thike AA, Iqbal J, Cheok PY, Tse GMK, Tan PH. Ductal carcinoma in situ associated with triple negative invasive breast cancer: evidence for a precursor-product relationship. J Clin Pathol 2013; 66:665-70. [PMID: 23539741 DOI: 10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
AIMS We evaluated pathological features of the ductal carcinoma in situ component of 241 triple negative invasive breast cancers. RESULTS We found that 151 (62.6%) in situ lesions were of high nuclear grade, and 236 (97.9%) were triple negative (oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, cerbB2 negative). Immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin (CK)5/6, CK14, CK17, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), CD117, 34βE12, p63 and smooth muscle actin (SMA) revealed positive staining in 5 (2.1%), 60 (24.9%), 69 (28.6%), 37 (15.4%), 69 (28.6%), 137 (56.8%), 3 (1.2%) and 22 (9.1%) in situ ductal components respectively, with fair to substantial agreement of staining results (positive versus negative) between in situ and corresponding invasive elements for CK5/6, CK14, CK17, EGFR, CD117 and 34βE12; but none to fair agreement for p63 and SMA respectively. When the tri-panel of CK14, EGFR and 34βE12 was used to define the basal phenotype, 68% revealed basal-like expression of both in situ and invasive components of the same case. CONCLUSIONS Our data support the notion that triple negative ductal carcinoma in situ is the precursor of the corresponding invasive counterpart, and that basal-like expression is maintained in the majority of invasive cancers associated with basal-like in situ disease. Future studies that prospectively evaluate morphological and biological characteristics of invasive cancers that develop from triple negative and basal-like ductal carcinoma in situ lesions will assist in validating these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aye Aye Thike
- Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
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21
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Veta M, Kornegoor R, Huisman A, Verschuur-Maes AHJ, Viergever MA, Pluim JPW, van Diest PJ. Prognostic value of automatically extracted nuclear morphometric features in whole slide images of male breast cancer. Mod Pathol 2012; 25:1559-65. [PMID: 22899294 DOI: 10.1038/modpathol.2012.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown the prognostic significance of nuclear morphometry in breast cancer patients. Wide acceptance of morphometric methods has, however, been hampered by the tedious and time consuming nature of the manual segmentation of nuclei and the lack of equipment for high throughput digitization of slides. Recently, whole slide imaging became more affordable and widely available, making fully digital pathology archives feasible. In this study, we employ an automatic nuclei segmentation algorithm to extract nuclear morphometry features related to size and we analyze their prognostic value in male breast cancer. The study population comprised 101 male breast cancer patients for whom survival data was available (median follow-up of 5.7 years). Automatic segmentation was performed on digitized tissue microarray slides, and for each patient, the mean nuclear area and the standard deviation of the nuclear area were calculated. In univariate survival analysis, a significant difference was found between patients with low and high mean nuclear area (P=0.022), while nuclear atypia score did not provide prognostic value. In Cox regression, mean nuclear area had independent additional prognostic value (P=0.032) to tumor size and tubule formation. In conclusion, we present an automatic method for nuclear morphometry and its application in male breast cancer prognosis. The automatically extracted mean nuclear area proved to be a significant prognostic indicator. With the increasing availability of slide scanning equipment in pathology labs, these kinds of quantitative approaches can be easily integrated in the workflow of routine pathology practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitko Veta
- Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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22
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Abstract
Cell size varies widely among different organisms as well as within the same organism in different tissue types and during development, which places variable metabolic and functional demands on organelles and internal structures. A fundamental question is how essential subcellular components scale to accommodate cell size differences. Nuclear transport has emerged as a conserved means of scaling nuclear size. A meiotic spindle scaling factor has been identified as the microtubule-severing protein katanin, which is differentially regulated by phosphorylation in two different-sized frog species. Anaphase mechanisms and levels of chromatin compaction both act to coordinate cell size with spindle and chromosome dimensions to ensure accurate genome distribution during cell division. Scaling relationships and mechanisms for many membrane-bound compartments remain largely unknown and are complicated by their heterogeneity and dynamic nature. This review summarizes cell and organelle size relationships and the experimental approaches that have elucidated mechanisms of intracellular scaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Levy
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA.
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23
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Enger SA, Ahnesjö A, Verhaegen F, Beaulieu L. Dose to tissue medium or water cavities as surrogate for the dose to cell nuclei at brachytherapy photon energies. Phys Med Biol 2012; 57:4489-500. [DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/57/14/4489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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24
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Nandakumar V, Kelbauskas L, Hernandez KF, Lintecum KM, Senechal P, Bussey KJ, Davies PCW, Johnson RH, Meldrum DR. Isotropic 3D nuclear morphometry of normal, fibrocystic and malignant breast epithelial cells reveals new structural alterations. PLoS One 2012; 7:e29230. [PMID: 22242161 PMCID: PMC3252316 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2011] [Accepted: 11/22/2011] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Grading schemes for breast cancer diagnosis are predominantly based on pathologists' qualitative assessment of altered nuclear structure from 2D brightfield microscopy images. However, cells are three-dimensional (3D) objects with features that are inherently 3D and thus poorly characterized in 2D. Our goal is to quantitatively characterize nuclear structure in 3D, assess its variation with malignancy, and investigate whether such variation correlates with standard nuclear grading criteria. Methodology We applied micro-optical computed tomographic imaging and automated 3D nuclear morphometry to quantify and compare morphological variations between human cell lines derived from normal, benign fibrocystic or malignant breast epithelium. To reproduce the appearance and contrast in clinical cytopathology images, we stained cells with hematoxylin and eosin and obtained 3D images of 150 individual stained cells of each cell type at sub-micron, isotropic resolution. Applying volumetric image analyses, we computed 42 3D morphological and textural descriptors of cellular and nuclear structure. Principal Findings We observed four distinct nuclear shape categories, the predominant being a mushroom cap shape. Cell and nuclear volumes increased from normal to fibrocystic to metastatic type, but there was little difference in the volume ratio of nucleus to cytoplasm (N/C ratio) between the lines. Abnormal cell nuclei had more nucleoli, markedly higher density and clumpier chromatin organization compared to normal. Nuclei of non-tumorigenic, fibrocystic cells exhibited larger textural variations than metastatic cell nuclei. At p<0.0025 by ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests, 90% of our computed descriptors statistically differentiated control from abnormal cell populations, but only 69% of these features statistically differentiated the fibrocystic from the metastatic cell populations. Conclusions Our results provide a new perspective on nuclear structure variations associated with malignancy and point to the value of automated quantitative 3D nuclear morphometry as an objective tool to enable development of sensitive and specific nuclear grade classification in breast cancer diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Nandakumar
- School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Laimonas Kelbauskas
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Kathryn F. Hernandez
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Kelly M. Lintecum
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Patti Senechal
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Kimberly J. Bussey
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- Clinical Translational Research Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Paul C. W. Davies
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Roger H. Johnson
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Deirdre R. Meldrum
- School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
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25
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Russo J, Santucci-Pereira J, de Cicco RL, Sheriff F, Russo PA, Peri S, Slifker M, Ross E, Mello MLS, Vidal BC, Belitskaya-Lévy I, Arslan A, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Bordas P, Lenner P, Ahman J, Afanasyeva Y, Hallmans G, Toniolo P, Russo IH. Pregnancy-induced chromatin remodeling in the breast of postmenopausal women. Int J Cancer 2012; 131:1059-70. [PMID: 22025034 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.27323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2011] [Accepted: 09/22/2011] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Early pregnancy and multiparity are known to reduce the risk of women to develop breast cancer at menopause. Based on the knowledge that the differentiation of the breast induced by the hormones of pregnancy plays a major role in this protection, this work was performed with the purpose of identifying what differentiation-associated molecular changes persist in the breast until menopause. Core needle biopsies (CNB) obtained from the breast of 42 nulliparous (NP) and 71 parous (P) postmenopausal women were analyzed in morphology, immunocytochemistry and gene expression. Whereas in the NP breast, nuclei of epithelial cells were large and euchromatic, in the P breast they were small and hyperchromatic, showing strong methylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 and 27. Transcriptomic analysis performed using Affymetrix HG_U133 oligonucleotide arrays revealed that in CNB of the P breast, there were 267 upregulated probesets that comprised genes controlling chromatin organization, transcription regulation, splicing machinery, mRNA processing and noncoding elements including XIST. We concluded that the differentiation process induced by pregnancy is centered in chromatin remodeling and in the mRNA processing reactome, both of which emerge as important regulatory pathways. These are indicative of a safeguard step that maintains the fidelity of the transcription process, becoming the ultimate mechanism mediating the protection of the breast conferred by full-term pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose Russo
- Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
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26
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Veltri RW, Isharwal S, Miller MC, Epstein JI, Partin AW. Nuclear roundness variance predicts prostate cancer progression, metastasis, and death: A prospective evaluation with up to 25 years of follow-up after radical prostatectomy. Prostate 2010; 70:1333-9. [PMID: 20623633 DOI: 10.1002/pros.21168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nuclear structure is often altered in cancer due to spatial rearrangements of chromatin organization via activation of oncogenes and other chromatin remodeling genes. Therefore, we evaluated the prognostic value of nuclear roundness variance (NRV) for prostate cancer (PCa) progression, metastasis and PCa-specific death free survivals in a cohort of 116 men after radical prostatectomy (RP). METHOD NRV was calculated for each case using the variance of the nuclear roundness from approximately 150 nuclei captured at a magnification of 2,440x for each case in 1992-1993. $${\rm Nuclear}\,{\rm roundness} = {{{\rm Radius}({\rm circumference})} \over {{\rm radius}({\rm area})}} = {R \over r} = {{P/2\pi } \over {\sqrt {A/\pi } }}$$ NRV data were merged with clinical, pathologic, and follow-up data for all patients in 2009. Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier plots were employed to analyze the data. RESULTS Median follow-up time after RP for all patients was 19 years (range: 1-25 years, mean: 17 years), with approximately 92% (107/116), 71% (82/116), and 47% (55/116) patients having >or=10, 15, and 20 years of follow-up, respectively. NRV was the most significant parameter for prediction of all three outcomes and its concordance-index (C-Index) increased from progression (0.7080) to metastasis (0.7332) to PCa-specific death (0.8090) free survival predictions. Of note, NRV C-Index was significantly higher compared to Gleason Score C-Index for metastasis (0.7332 vs. 0.6046; P = 0.027) and PCa-specific death (0.8090 vs. 0.6336; P = 0.004) free survival predictions. However, the difference between NRV and Gleason Score C-Indexes was not statistically significant for progression free survival prediction (0.7080 vs. 0.6463; P = 0.106). CONCLUSION NRV is valuable nuclear structural feature that exceeds Gleason score to predict an aggressive phenotype of PCa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W Veltri
- James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
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27
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Berman HK, Gauthier ML, Tlsty TD. Premalignant breast neoplasia: a paradigm of interlesional and intralesional molecular heterogeneity and its biological and clinical ramifications. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2010; 3:579-87. [PMID: 20424132 DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.capr-10-0073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
As is well established in invasive breast disease, it is becoming increasingly clear that molecular heterogeneity, both between and within lesions, is a prevalent, distinct phenotype of premalignant lesions of the breast. Key pathways of tumorigenesis modulate critical features of premalignant lesions such as proliferation, differentiation, stress response, and even the generation of diversity. Current studies show that evaluation of these lesions may provide clinically useful information on future tumor formation as well as biological insights into the origin and functional significance of this distinct phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hal K Berman
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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28
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Mean Nuclear Area and Metallothionein Expression in Ductal Breast Tumors: Correlation With Estrogen Receptor Status. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 2008; 16:108-12. [DOI: 10.1097/pai.0b013e31806d9b88] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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29
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Steigen SE, Straume B, Turbin D, Chan AKW, Leung S, Nielsen TO, Lindal S. Clinicopathologic factors and nuclear morphometry as independent prognosticators in KIT-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors. J Histochem Cytochem 2007; 56:139-45. [PMID: 17938277 DOI: 10.1369/jhc.7a7333.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal neoplasms found in the gastrointestinal tract. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether morphometric measurements could complement tumor size and mitotic activity in risk evaluation. Nuclear roundness and ellipse axis ratio were found to correlate with tumor size, mitotic activity, nuclear atypia, and hemorrhage. Morphometric variables in 422 GISTs were significant for overall survival in univariate analyses but did not retain independent significance in multivariate analyses incorporating mitotic count and tumor size. Traditional variables, together with sex, location of primary tumor, and nuclear atypia, seem to be the best parameters for prognostic evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja E Steigen
- Department of Pathology, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromso, Norway.
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Chapman JAW, Miller NA, Lickley HLA, Qian J, Christens-Barry WA, Fu Y, Yuan Y, Axelrod DE. Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS) with heterogeneity of nuclear grade: prognostic effects of quantitative nuclear assessment. BMC Cancer 2007; 7:174. [PMID: 17845726 PMCID: PMC2001197 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2407-7-174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2006] [Accepted: 09/10/2007] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previously, 50% of patients with breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) had more than one nuclear grade, and neither worst nor predominant nuclear grade was significantly associated with development of invasive carcinoma. Here, we used image analysis in addition to histologic evaluation to determine if quantification of nuclear features could provide additional prognostic information and hence impact prognostic assessments. METHODS Nuclear image features were extracted from about 200 nuclei of each of 80 patients with DCIS who underwent lumpectomy alone, and received no adjuvant systemic therapy. Nuclear images were obtained from 20 representative nuclei per duct, from each of a group of 5 ducts, in two separate fields, for 10 ducts. Reproducibility of image analysis features was determined, as was the ability of features to discriminate between nuclear grades. Patient information was available about clinical factors (age and method of DCIS detection), pathologic factors (DCIS size, nuclear grade, margin size, and amount of parenchymal involvement), and 39 image features (morphology, densitometry, and texture). The prognostic effects of these factors and features on the development of invasive breast cancer were examined with Cox step-wise multivariate regression. RESULTS Duplicate measurements were similar for 89.7% to 97.4% of assessed image features. For the pooled assessment with approximately 200 nuclei per patient, a discriminant function with one densitometric and two texture features was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with nuclear grading, and provided 78.8% correct jackknifed classification of a patient's nuclear grade. In multivariate assessments, image analysis nuclear features had significant prognostic associations (p <or= 0.05) with the development of invasive breast cancer. Texture (difference entropy, p < 0.001; contrast, p < 0.001; peak transition probability, p = 0.01), densitometry (range density, p = 0.004), and measured margin (p = 0.05) were associated with development of invasive disease for the pooled data across all ducts. CONCLUSION Image analysis provided reproducible assessments of nuclear features which quantitated differences in nuclear grading for patients. Quantitative nuclear image features indicated prognostically significant differences in DCIS, and may contribute additional information to prognostic assessments of which patients are likely to develop invasive disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith-Anne W Chapman
- National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, Queen's University, 10 Stuart Street, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Naomi A Miller
- Department of Pathology, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9, Canada
| | - H Lavina A Lickley
- Henrietta Banting Breast Centre, Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto, 76 Grenville Street, 7th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B2, Canada
| | - Jin Qian
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | | | - Yuejiao Fu
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Yan Yuan
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - David E Axelrod
- Department of Genetics and Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082, USA
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Selvarajan S, Wong KY, Khoo KS, Bay BH, Tan PH. Over-expression of c-erbB-2 correlates with nuclear morphometry and prognosis in breast carcinoma in Asian women. Pathology 2007; 38:528-33. [PMID: 17393979 DOI: 10.1080/00313020601024060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
AIM We aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of c-erbB-2 in invasive breast carcinoma in Asian women and its correlations with clinicopathological parameters and nuclear morphometry. Patients were followed up for disease relapse and overall survival, and the data were reviewed in conjunction with c-erbB-2 over-expression. METHODS Paraffin sections from 321 invasive breast cancers were immunohistochemically stained with anti-human c-erbB-2 antibody using the streptavidin-biotin technique. RESULTS c-erbB-2 was over-expressed in 110 (34.3%) cases, with an inverse correlation with oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status (p=0.0001) and a positive correlation with histological grade (p=0.017). Nuclear morphometry in 96 cases revealed rounder nuclei in c-erbB-2 negative tumours (p=0.0322) when compared with c-erbB-2 positive tumours. Among c-erbB-2 positive cases, malignant cells of histological grade 3 tumours revealed larger nuclear area and perimeter than grade 1 and 2 cases (p=0.0095, p=0.03, respectively) while increasing tumour size correlated with greater nuclear perimeter (p=0.046). c-erbB-2 positivity was significantly associated with poor survival when all patients were included in the analysis (p=0.0166) and for subsets of node positive, histological grade 1 and 2, and ER positive tumours, and in women aged over 50 years (p=0.0047, p=0.0367, p=0.0092, p=0.0096, respectively). CONCLUSIONS c-erbB-2 was independently prognostic when histological grade, nodal and ER status were considered. Our results show that c-erbB-2 over-expression correlates with poor histological grade and negative ER/PR status, and predicts poor overall survival in Asian women with breast cancer.
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MESH Headings
- Adult
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Asian People/genetics
- Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics
- Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism
- Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis
- Breast Neoplasms/ethnology
- Breast Neoplasms/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast/diagnosis
- Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast/metabolism
- Cell Nucleus/pathology
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Humans
- Middle Aged
- Prognosis
- Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics
- Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism
- Receptors, Estrogen/genetics
- Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism
- Receptors, Progesterone/genetics
- Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism
- Survival Analysis
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Lim CN, Ho BCS, Bay BH, Yip G, Tan PH. Nuclear morphometry in columnar cell lesions of the breast: is it useful? J Clin Pathol 2006; 59:1283-6. [PMID: 16603646 PMCID: PMC1860532 DOI: 10.1136/jcp.2005.035428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To evaluate the nuclear morphometric features of breast columnar cell lesions (CCLs) observed on mammotome core biopsies, to determine if there are significant measurable differences between those with atypia and those without. Correlation with follow-up open excision specimens was made. METHODS Mammotome core biopsies performed on patients that contained CCLs were derived from the departmental case files. Histological material was reviewed and foci of CCLs demarcated for nuclear morphometric assessment, which was accomplished using an imaging system. Nuclear parameters studied were nuclear area and perimeter, circularity factor and feret's diameter. Statistical analysis used the GraphPad Prism software, with p<0.05 indicating significance. RESULTS On examination of core biopsies of 40 patients with CCLs, 8 lesions were benign, 4 showed atypical lobular hyperplasia, 8 showed CCLs with nuclear atypia, 19 disclosed atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) and 1 showed ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The nuclear area, perimeter and feret's diameter of CCLs with atypia were significantly greater than those without (p = 0.04, 0.03 and 0.019, respectively), whereas no difference was observed in the circularity factor. Follow-up open excision biopsy specimens in 24 patients showed upgrading to DCIS in 40% of cases diagnosed initially with ADH on core biopsy compared with 20% of CCLs with atypia. CONCLUSIONS Nuclear morphometry in CCLs confirms nuclear size as the key parameter in the assessment of nuclear atypia. Whether it can be potentially used as an adjunctive tool depends on the establishment of appropriate cut-offs.
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Affiliation(s)
- C N Lim
- Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
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Tan PH, Ho BCS, Selvarajan S, Yap WM, Hanby A. Pathological diagnosis of columnar cell lesions of the breast: are there issues of reproducibility? J Clin Pathol 2005; 58:705-9. [PMID: 15976336 PMCID: PMC1770719 DOI: 10.1136/jcp.2004.025239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To assess inter/intraobserver variability in the interpretation of a series of digitised images of columnar cell lesions (CCLs) of the breast. METHODS After a tutorial on breast CCL, 39 images were presented to seven staff pathologists, who were instructed to categorize the lesions as follows: 0, no columnar cell change (CCC) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS); 1, CCC; 2, columnar cell hyperplasia; 3, CCC with architectural atypia; 4, CCC with cytological atypia; 5, DCIS. Concordance with the tutor's diagnosis and degree of agreement among pathologists for each image were determined. The same set of images was re-presented to the pathologists one week later, their diagnoses collated, and inter/intraobservor reproducibility and level of agreement for individual images analysed. RESULTS Diagnostic reproducibility with the tutor ranged from moderate to substantial (kappa values, 0.439-0.697) in the first exercise. At repeat evaluation, intraobserver agreement was fair to perfect (kappa values, 0.271-0.832), whereas concordance with the tutor varied from fair to substantial (kappa values, 0.334-0.669). There was unanimous agreement on more images during the second exercise, mainly because of agreement on the diagnosis of DCIS. The lowest agreement was seen for CCC with cytological atypia. CONCLUSIONS Interobserver and intraobserver agreement is good for DCIS, but more effort is needed to improve diagnostic consistency in the category of CCC with cytological atypia. Continued awareness and study of these lesions are necessary to enhance recognition and understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- P H Tan
- Histopathology Section, Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore 169608.
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