IADR Abstract Archives
Quantitative Histological Feature Analysis in Oral Epithelial Dysplasia
Objectives: Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) is the precursor to oral squamous cell carcinoma which is amongst the top ten leading cancers worldwide. Histopathological analysis remains the diagnostic gold standard; however, OED grading remains highly subjective and is an unreliable predictor of cancer risk. There is an increasing number of cytological and architectural abnormalities found in OED, although many features have not been quantitatively analysed or correlated to clinical outcomes. This study aims to quantitatively analyse differences in cellularity, nuclear and cytoplasmic features, and lesion thickness/perimeter in OED and evaluate the association of these features with malignant transformation and OED recurrence.
Methods: Digitised whole-slide images of 75 OED and 25 control cases were analysed to quantitatively assess a range of histological features including: cell number, nucleus circularity, nucleus eccentricity, nucleus haematoxylin optical density (OD), cytoplasm eosin OD, nuclear to cell area ratio and lesion thickness/perimeter. Statistical analyses were conducted to analyse feature differences between OED grades, and to determine which features were predictive of malignant transformation and OED recurrence.
Results: Findings showed an increased cell number in OED epithelium compared to control (p=0.039), and grade-related differences for cytoplasm eosin content (p=0.035), nucleus eccentricity (p=0.016) and nucleus circularity in basal epithelial cells of OED (p=0.0005). Nucleus circularity in OED epithelium was associated with lesion recurrence (p=0.018). Keratin perimeter was significantly increased in OED compared to control (p<0.00003) and epithelium perimeter in OED was strongly associated with malignant transformation (p=0.016).
Conclusions: This study has revealed novel and potentially important differences in cellularity, geometric, colour and perimeter features in OED (p<0.05). Further validation on larger independent datasets is needed to establish the significance of these features in relation to OED progression.
Methods: Digitised whole-slide images of 75 OED and 25 control cases were analysed to quantitatively assess a range of histological features including: cell number, nucleus circularity, nucleus eccentricity, nucleus haematoxylin optical density (OD), cytoplasm eosin OD, nuclear to cell area ratio and lesion thickness/perimeter. Statistical analyses were conducted to analyse feature differences between OED grades, and to determine which features were predictive of malignant transformation and OED recurrence.
Results: Findings showed an increased cell number in OED epithelium compared to control (p=0.039), and grade-related differences for cytoplasm eosin content (p=0.035), nucleus eccentricity (p=0.016) and nucleus circularity in basal epithelial cells of OED (p=0.0005). Nucleus circularity in OED epithelium was associated with lesion recurrence (p=0.018). Keratin perimeter was significantly increased in OED compared to control (p<0.00003) and epithelium perimeter in OED was strongly associated with malignant transformation (p=0.016).
Conclusions: This study has revealed novel and potentially important differences in cellularity, geometric, colour and perimeter features in OED (p<0.05). Further validation on larger independent datasets is needed to establish the significance of these features in relation to OED progression.