Objective: To detect differences in nuclear morphology in breast carcinoma cells with different p53 expression.
Study design: Immunohistochemical reactions were performed on paraffin sections from 88 breast cancers with the monoclonal antibody DO-1. By means of an image cytometry workstation, 500 nuclei were localized and categorized in an immunohistochemical staining scoring system in each case. After destaining and Feulgen staining, the nuclei were relocated and measured by means of the workstation.
Results: P53-positive nuclei showed greater irregularity of the chromatin pattern and stronger granularity of the chromatin. There were also differences in the chromatin texture and nuclear shape between tumors different in their p53 expression. The p53-negative nuclear population from the p53-positive tumors and the whole nuclear population of the p53-negative tumors were morphologically different, also.
Conclusion: Nuclear image analysis of immunohistochemically characterized cells allows further insight into the relationship of structure and function in malignant tumor cells.