Digital karyometry in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Objective: To characterize nuclei from pancreatic adenocarcinoma and nonneoplastic pancreatic tissue by digital karyometry, demonstrating specific nuclear signatures for each of them.

Study Design: Of cells from malignant and nonmalignant pancreatic tissue, 1,300 nuclei were assessed by digital karyometry from paraffin blocks stored at the Pathology Service of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre. A set of 40 features descriptive of the spatial and statistical distribution of nuclear chromatin was computed for each nucleus.