Prognostic significance (relapse, non-relapse) of nuclear shape parameters in lymph node negative breast cancer

A series of 15 postmenopausal patients with stage I invasive breast cancer (pT1-2, pNO, cMO) of uniform histologic type (ductal, NOS) was selected from the Basel Cancer Registry for retrospective analysis. A group of seven patients with a minimal disease-free survival of 9 years was compared to a group of eight patients with clinical and/or histopathological relapse within 8 years of mastectomy. Computer-assisted morphometry of cancer nuclei in routine histological material was used to investigate possible correlations of clinical outcome with nuclear size and shape parameters. Significant differences were found for certain shape descriptors by nonparametric statistical analysis. Stepwise discriminant analysis was applied to find the best combination of parameters separating the two prognostic groups. Application of the 'leaving one out method' showed correct classification in 6 of 8 recurrent cases and in all non-recurrent cases. The number of patients is small, therefore the results should be carefully interpreted.