Derivation of a nuclear heterogeneity image index to grade DCIS.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
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.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Hayward, M-K; Louise Jones, J; Hall, A; King, L; Ironside, AJ; Nelson, AC; Shelley Hwang, E; Weaver, VM
Published Date
- 2020
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 18 /
Start / End Page
- 4063 - 4070
PubMed ID
- 33363702
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC7744935
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 2001-0370
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.11.040
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- Netherlands