Comparison of nuclear morphometric parameters in cytologic smears and histologic sections of spontaneous canine tumors

Utility of nuclear morphometry in the cytologic evaluation of canine cutaneous soft tissue sarcomas

Cytopathologists lack reliable criteria to distinguish neoplastic from reactive spindle cells; however, with computer-based nuclear morphometry, it is now possible to more objectively and precisely quantify differences between selected populations of cells. Forty-four cutaneous soft tissue sarcomas and 5 cases of reactive spindle cell proliferations in the dog were morphometrically analyzed with regard to median and standard deviation (SD) of nuclear area, diameter (max, min, mean), radius (max, min), perimeter, and roundness. Overall, nuclei from reactive spindle cells were larger, with greater variation in nuclear size and shape. Significant differences ( P < 0.05) were found for several nuclear parameters, including the median and SD of maximum diameter and radius, as well as the SD of roundness. No significant differences were found in nuclear parameters between soft tissue sarcomas divided by histologic grade, mitotic index, or tumor necrosis score. Analysis of the sources of variation indicated near-perfect intraobserver and substantial interobserver agreement. The largest source of variation was due to selection of different measurement fields, reflecting the inherent biological variation in nuclear size within the tumor cell population. The results indicate that nuclear morphometry on cytologic preparations is a reproducible method that may be able to differentiate cutaneous soft tissue sarcomas from reactive mesenchymal lesions in the dog. Further studies, including a larger number of cases, are warranted to assess repeatability of results.

Preoperative prediction of papillary thyroid carcinoma prognosis with the assistance of computerized morphometry of cytology samples obtained by fine-needle aspiration: preliminary report

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between cytologic features, clinical features, and recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We hoped to predict prognosis preoperatively.

METHODS

We retrospectively studied cytologic features by using computerized morphometry and clinical data of 118 patients with usual-type PTC without initial metastasis, including 34 patients with cancer recurrence in 10 years after surgery and 84 patients who did not have recurrence for more than 10 years after surgery. Another 24 patients were recruited for validation.

RESULTS

Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that nucleus-to-cell ratio, variation of nuclear area, tumor size, and patient age were significantly related to recurrence. Cox regression analysis showed that hazard ratios were 3.34, 1.53, 1.77, and 2.6, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Cytologic features of PTC analyzed with computerized morphometry significantly correlated with recurrence. It helped to predict prognosis preoperatively and may be helpful for planning further treatment.

Understanding of the immunological heterogeneity of canine mammary carcinomas to provide immunophenotypic features of circulating leukocytes as clinically relevant prognostic biomarkers

We have evaluated the phenotypic features of peripheral blood leukocytes as putative novel biomarkers with prognostic values to monitor canine mammary carcinomas. Female dogs were categorized into distinct groups, referred as mammary carcinoma in benign mixed tumor-MC-BMT and mammary carcinoma-MC. Our findings demonstrate that decreased percentage of B-cells along with increased frequency of NK-cells, CD8(+)T-cells, and CD8(+)CD5(Low+)T-cells beside higher T/B-cells and lower CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio were the hallmarks of MC-BMT. Despite the lower expression of MHCI and MHCII, the lymphocytes from MC-BMT and MC displayed higher migration potential as suggested by enhanced frequency of CD18(+) events. Although increased levels of macrophage-like cells/(CD14(+)CD16(+)) and decreased levels of MHCII expression were a common phenotypic feature in mammary carcinoma, down-regulation of MHCI was selectively observed in MC. Decreased frequency of CD4(+) T-cells with increased levels of CD8(+) T-cells and lower CD4(+)/CD8(+) T-cell ratio were relevant biomarkers of MC-BTM(-). Although decreased expression of MHCI by monocytes was observed in MC-BTM regardless of the presence of lymph node metastasis, this phenotypic feature was restricted to MC free of metastasis. The CD4(+)/CD8(+) T-cells ratio lower than 1.8 was elected as a valid parameter with outstanding performance to predict survival in MC-BMT. On the other hand, the MHCI expression by monocytes higher than 10(2) MFI showed good value to estimate worse outcome in MC. These results should help to improve our understanding of the immunological heterogeneity of canine mammary carcinomas and provide tools for the determination of cut-off scores of clinically relevant immonophenotypic prognostic biomarkers.

Histological grading and prognosis in dogs with mammary carcinomas: application of a human grading method

The human "Elston and Ellis grading method" was used in dogs with mammary carcinoma to examine its relation to prognosis in this species, based on a 2-year follow-up period. Of the 85 cases examined, 27(31.8%) had well-differentiated (grade I), 28 (32.9%) had moderately differentiated (grade II) and 30 (35.3%) had poorly differentiated (grade III) carcinomas. Two years after mastectomy, significant differences in survival between cases with different tumour grade were found; thus, survival was worse in dogs with grade III carcinomas than in those with grade II (P<0.05) or grade I (P<0.001) tumours. However, in dogs with simple carcinomas which had a less favourable prognosis than that of other carcinomas (P<0.001), there was no significant difference in survival between grade II and grade III cases (P=0.878), both having a very poor prognosis. Undifferentiated (grade III) carcinoma cases had a 21-fold increased risk of death as compared with differentiated (grade I and II) carcinoma cases. An increased risk (about 10-fold) was also associated with undifferentiated simple carcinomas as compared with differentiated ones. The predictive value of histological grade was not influenced by tumour size or age of the dog at mastectomy; nodal metastasis, however, worsened the prognosis (P<0.001). Routine use of this human grading method would help the clinician to make a more accurate prognosis in the interests of post-surgical management in dogs with mammary carcinomas.