Nuclear morphometry and DNA flow cytometry as prognostic factors in female breast cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of traditional prognostic factors, nuclear morphometry, and flow cytometric data in invasive breast cancer.

Design: Open study.

Setting: One university hospital in Finland.

Subjects: 248 women with invasive breast cancer followed up for more than 11 years.

Main Outcome Measures: Univariate and multivariate analysis of factors thought to indicate prognosis.

Results: Diameter of the tumour, lymph node status, S phase fraction. DNA index, the age of the patient, and the SD of nuclear perimeter were significant independent predictors in the whole series in a multivariate analysis. In node negative patients the SED of the nuclear perimeter and diameter of the tumour had independent prognostic value, whereas in node positive patients diameter of the tumour and the S phase fraction were independently related to survival.

Conclusions: Diameter of the tumour is an important prognostic factor in breast carcinomas. Histoquantitative methods are superior to conventional histological techniques for the prediction of outcome in women with breast cancer.