Morphometry separates squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva into two distinct groups.

The aim of the study was to investigate quantitatively the heterogeneity of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. The material consisted of archive material from 36 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva treated at Department of Gynaecology and Oncology. Selected slides were stained with iodidium propide and immunostained for p53 and Ki-67 (MIB-1 clone). Percent of immunopositive nuclei, number of mitotic figures, DNA-ploidy, and geometric nuclear parameters such as area, perimeter, minimum, mean and maximum diameter, shape factor and folding factor were measured with applications running on AnalySIS pro 2.11 (Soft Imaging System GmbH, Germany) image analysis system. Cluster analysis disclosed 2 groups significantly different in respect to patient age, nuclear area, p53 expression and DNA-ploidy. No significant difference in proliferation markers nor clinical stage was found. In other studies also 2 distinct group of squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva are postulated; that groups differ in pathogenesis and epidemiology. Our study confirms this heterogeneity by an independent method. In the present study usefulness of image analysis for separating squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva into distinct groups was explored and proved.