Abstract
The object of this study was to measure some of the differences between normal squamous epithelial cells and cells from invasive squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix. A total of 107 patients were studied; only those specimens which when assessed by a histopathologist were thought to show classic normal features or undoubted invasive carcinoma were included in the quantitative analysis. In addition, any specimens which at the electron microscope level, showed faulty sampling or preparation were discarded, leaving us with 16 carcinoma and 15 normal specimens for detailed study.
The nuclei of tumour cells had a greater area than those of normal cells; histograms of the size distribution of nuclei showed a distinctly different pattern in the 2 groups. Tumour cells had fewer ribosomes in each cubic micron of cytoplasm than had the normal cells and showed a reduction in the amount of intercellular space; in addition, the malignant cells had a smaller surface density and fewer tonofibrils in their cytoplasm. Some tumour cells had a smaller percentage of cell membrane specialized as desmosomes than the corresponding normal cells but all tumour cells had desmosomes of shorter length than normal.
Discriminatory analysis, carried out with the help of a computer, allowed all of these variables to be assessed with respect to each other in order to arrive at a numerical score for each specimen. When expressed graphically, these scores showed that the populations of normal and carcinomatous cells fell into 2 separate groups. The significance of these results is discussed.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- ATKIN N. B. NUCLEAR SIZE IN CARCINOMA OF THE CERVIX: ITS RELATION TO DNA CONTENT AND TO PROGNOSIS. Cancer. 1964 Nov;17:1391–1399. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196411)17:11<1391::aid-cncr2820171106>3.0.co;2-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ATKIN N. B., RICHARDS B. M. Clinical significance of ploidy in carcinoma of cervix: its relation to prognosis. Br Med J. 1962 Dec 1;2(5317):1445–1446. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5317.1445. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bartels P. H., Bahr G. F., Bibbo M., Wied G. L. Objective cell image analysis. J Histochem Cytochem. 1972 Apr;20(4):239–254. doi: 10.1177/20.4.239. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bhowmick D. K., Mitra A. Ultrastructural morphology of squamous carcinoma of human exocervix. Indian J Med Res. 1968 Mar;56(3):282–287. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bradbury S., Wiernik G., Williams E. A., Cowdell R. H. Preliminary observations on the histochemistry of the cell surface of carcinoma of the cervix. Br J Cancer. 1970 Dec;24(4):741–745. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1970.88. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Broders A. C. SQUAMOUS-CELL EPITHELIOMA OF THE SKIN: A STUDY OF 256 CASES. Ann Surg. 1921 Feb;73(2):141–160. doi: 10.1097/00000658-192102000-00001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FORAKER A. G., REAGAN J. W. Nuclear mass and allied phenomena in normal exocervical mucosa, squamous metaplasia, atypical hyperplasia, intraepithelial carcinoma and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Cancer. 1959 Sep-Oct;12:894–901. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(195909/10)12:5<894::aid-cncr2820120508>3.0.co;2-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FORAKER A. G., REAGAN J. W. Nuclear size and nuclear: cytoplasmic ratio in the delineation of atypical hyperplasia of the uterine cervix. Cancer. 1956 May-Jun;9(3):470–479. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(195605/06)9:3<470::aid-cncr2820090307>3.0.co;2-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nodskov-Pedersen S. Degree of malignancy of cancer involving the cervix uteri, judged on the basis of clinical stage, histology, size of nuclei, and content of DNA. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand A. 1971;79(6):617–628. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb01864.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weibel E. R. Stereological principles for morphometry in electron microscopic cytology. Int Rev Cytol. 1969;26:235–302. doi: 10.1016/s0074-7696(08)61637-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]