Morphometric studies for objective diagnosis of intraductal carcinoma of the breast

In order to obtain objective histologic criteria for distinguishing intraductal carcinomas of the breast from benign intraductal hyperplasia, a morphometric study was carried out on 15 cases of breast carcinoma (5 cases of comedo carcinoma, 5 cribriform carcinoma and 5 papillotubular carcinoma) and 10 benign control lesions (5 papilloma and 5 fibrocystic disease). Morphometric analysis was performed for each group with regard to 1) mean nuclear area, 2) mean nucleolar size, 3) mitotic index, and 4) nuclear count within predefined area (nuclear density) in histologic specimens. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Mean nuclear area for comedo carcinoma was distinctively large. This, together with its coefficiency variance, may be a good indicator for identifying this type of carcinoma. 2) Mean nucleolar size was significantly larger in each carcinoma group than in their benign counterparts. Nucleolar size was therefore considered to be the most reliable parameter for discriminating malignant cells from benign hyperplasia. 3) Mitotic index was relatively high in comedo and papillotubular carcinomas. 4) No difference was seen in nuclear density between the malignant and benign groups. In addition to the major criteria, combined application of these morphometric indicators might also be helpful for practical histologic assessment.