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Anti-Nuclear Antibody Screening Using HEp-2 Cells
Published on: June 24, 2014
DNA aneuploidy as a specific marker of neoplastic cells in FNAB of the thyroid
B Nadjari1, H Motherby, T Pooschke
1Institute of Cytopathology, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Objective:
To investigate whether DNA image cytometry (ICM) could be of value in the specific identification of neoplastic cells in cytologic specimens of the thyroid.
Study Design:
FNABs of thyroid from 162 patients with different benign and neoplastic diseases were investigated. Nuclear DNA content in thyroid cells was measured after Feulgen staining using a TV image analysis system. Data were correlated with clinical and histologic patient follow-up. The occurrence of abnormal DNA stemlines was used as a marker for aneuploidy and thus for neoplasia.
Results:
None of the 89 cases without tumor cells revealed DNA aneuploidy. An abnormal DNA stemline was found in 55% of histologically proven benign thyroid tumors (follicular or oncocytic adenomas) and in 59.5% of malignant tumors. The positive predictive value of DNA aneuploidy in FNABs of the thyroid for neoplasms was 100%. The negative predictive value of DNA nonaneuploidy for the prediction of tumor-free histologic or clinical follow-up was 79.4%.
Conclusion:
DNA image cytometry may be helpful in the specific identification of neoplastic follicular cells. DNA ICM on FNABs of the thyroid is an additional tool to achieve early identification of patients with nodular lesions of the thyroid that have to be operated on. DNA euploidy excludes the presence of neither malignancy nor neoplasia.
