Mean nuclear volume in ovarian papillary serous cystadenocarcinoma

To measure mean nuclear volume (MNV), estimated by the stereologic intercept method, in ovarian serous carcinomas and to compare that between omentum-positive cases (cases with omental metastasis) and -negative cases.

This retrospective study consisted of 29 cases (stage I and II = 13 cases, and stage IIIb = 16 cases) of ovarian papillary serous cystadenocarcinoma. MNV of all cases (at primary and metastatic sites) was estimated with an image cytometer. The nuclear point intersection method was used to measure nuclear volume. Mean intercepted diameters of at least 50 nuclei were measured. MNV was correlated with histologic grade, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging of ovarian malignancy and primary tumor versus metastatic deposits.

MNVs estimated in omentum-negative (FIGO stage I and II) and omentum-positive (FIGO stage IIIb) cases were 1,022.48 +/- 608.45 and 2,152 +/- 1,317.51 microns 3 (P = .05, Student t test), respectively. Significant differences in MNV were also observed among the different grades of tumor. However, no significant difference was observed between MNVs of primary and metastatic tumors in omentum-positive cases.

Estimates of MNV on conventional histopathology sections may provide objective and useful criteria for relatively subjective histopathology grading and staging (FIGO stage I and II vs. IIIb).