Abstract
BACKGROUND The identification of high risk patients with endometrial carcinoma is considered essential for individualized therapy to improve prognosis and avoid overtreatment. The goal of the current study was to investigate the prognostic value of nuclear morphometry, particularly for patients with localized endometrial carcinoma. METHODS In a prospective study including 115 patients primarily treated for endometrial carcinoma at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway between 1981-1990, data regarding clinical variables, histologic type, histologic grade, DNA index, estrogen and progesterone receptor concentration and nuclear morphometry were collected. The median follow-up period for the survivors was 9 years (range, 5-15 years). RESULTS International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, histologic type, histologic grade (World Health Organization), DNA index, progesterone receptor concentration, mean nuclear area, greatest and smallest nuclear diameter, nuclear perimeter, and standard deviation to mean nuclear area all influenced survival significantly in univariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, FIGO stage and morphometrically determined mean nuclear size were identified as independent prognostic factors, whereas histologic grade had borderline significance. Histologic type, DNA index, progesterone receptor concentration, and standard deviation of mean nuclear area were not significantly associated with prognosis. The nuclear perimeter was identified as the most powerful prognostic morphometric factor, and in a separate multivariate analysis that included patients with localized disease only, it was also an independent prognostic factor. This also was the case for the subgroup of patients with endometrioid carcinoma, adenoacanthoma, or adenosquamous carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS Morphometric nuclear grade was a stronger prognostic factor than subjective histologic grade, histologic type, DNA index, and hormone receptor concentration in endometrial carcinoma patients, including those patients with localized disease. Cancer 1998;83:956-964. © 1998 American Cancer Society.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
