[Cell morphometric analysis in oral submucous fibrosis, leukoplakia and squamous cell carcinoma]

The morphometry of the cells and the nuclei in the spinous cells of oral epithelium in 48 specimens were studied by interactive image analysis system (IBAS-II). Five groups, normal mucosa, oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), leukoplakia, epithelial dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma, were included. The result showed a progressive reduction in the dimensions (area, perimeter, all kinds of diameter) of the cells from normal mucosa, through OSF, leukoplakia, dysplasia to carcinoma (P < 0.01), while the dimensions of the nuclei did not show significant differences among the groups (P > 0.05), except the minimum diameter, but the nuclear cytoplasmic ratio showed a progressive increase (P < 0.01). The shape factors (form factor [PE] and contour index [CI]) seemed to be less helpful in identification. It indicated that the decrease of cell area of the spinous cell could reflect a malignant progress, and nuclear cytoplasmic ratio might be an objective feature to distinguish carcinoma from other lesions. The result also suggested that the pathological grade of OSF is between normal mucosa and mild epithelial dysplasia.