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Computer-assisted and visual methods of assessing cellular proliferation in tissue sections from non-Hodgkin's
J B Hendricks1, R Rainer, S Munakata
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida Diagnostic Referral Laboratories, Gainesville, 32610-0275 USA.
Objective:
To compare computer-assisted and visual methods of assessing cellular proliferation using tissue sections from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
Study Design:
The study group consisted of 20 specimens of NHL (10 indolent and 10 aggressive). Three-micrometer serial sections were prepared and labeled for Ki-67 (MIB1) and argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs). Labeling was assessed by classic visual inspection and quantitative image analysis.
Results:
Computer-assisted and visual Ki-67 labeling indices were significantly higher in aggressive than indolent NHL and were linearly related (r = .850, P < .0001). Although the visual and computer-assisted AgNOR counts were significantly higher in aggressive than indolent NHL, the correlation between these two counting methods was not significant (r = .407, P < .075). Linear regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the Ki-67 visual labeling index and visual AgNOR count (r = .630, P < .003); however, no such relationship could be demonstrated between the remaining methods.
Conclusion:
The results of this study suggest that visual and computer-assisted methods of immunohistochemical and AgNOR analysis may not yield comparable results. This fact may be related to the method of analysis and the computer-assisted technique.
