Quantitative microscopy of epidermoid lung carcinoma: correlation with survival time

Quantitative microscopy, including morphometry of tumor, stroma, and necrosis was used for the prognostication of pulmonary carcinoma. This was supplemented by the mitosis: necrobiosis ratio, reciprocal of cell count, and number of "apoptosis" bodies. Data for 15 short-term (4-19 mo) and 8 long-term (32-132 mo) survivors with epidermoid carcinoma were expressed as indexes. The morphometric index averaged 106.8 for short-term and 156.1 for long-term survivors, respectively. Addition of the other three indexes resulted in an average of 171.4 for short-term and 318.5 for long-term survivors. Morphometric index and the necrobiosis: mitosis ratio were of greater significance than the other two indexes. Discriminatory function analysis based on the weighted sum of the logarithms of the four indexes demonstrated their usefulness in classifying patients as short-term or long-term survivors. The error rate for the discriminant analysis was 3.5%.