HISTOSCAN: computer program for cytophotometry in tissue sections and its application in the evaluation of nuclear...

The grading of nuclear atypia has a great and well recognized value when predicting the malignancy of neoplastic processes. Although the basic criteria for the grading are generally agreed upon, in the individual case, the final judgement is to some extent still a matter of subjectivity, which naturally impairs reproducibility. The present paper describes a method for quantification of variability of nuclear size and Feulgen-stainability. By plotting the mean optical density against the area value in a scatter-diagram, a cluster is obtained, the size of which reflects the degree of nuclear atypia. The measurements are performed in tissue sections using stage scanning cytophotometry. A computer program--HISTOSCAN--has been developed which enables measurements in highly cellular tissues. The system is also insensitive to the influence of light scattering, a factor of importance when measuring in tissue sections. The performance of the program is tested in both imprints and tissue sections.