A new histologic grading index in ovarian carcinoma

It is generally believed that the degree of differentiation or tumor grade is of prognostic value in human ovarian carcinoma, but the methods of evaluation are subject to considerable variation. The present work investigates the prognostic value of a new Histologic Grading Index (HGI), containing most of the known systems and taking into account both the usual histologic and cytologic features (tumor structure, nuclear polymorphism, nucleolar features, nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, frequency of mitosis) and the probably more independent parameters (mode of invasion, capsular penetration, and vascular invasion). This study shows that the index correlates significantly with both presence of tumor at second-look operations and survival.