Stereological estimate of nuclear volume in endometrial adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type: reproducibility and intra-tumour variation

Stereological volume weighted mean nuclear volume estimate (Vv) is reported to be highly reproducible and to provide excellent prognostic information for some tumours. The aim of the present study was to investigate the reproducibility and the intra-tumour variation of nuclear Vv and compare it with a morphometric nuclear estimate, i.e. the mean shortest nuclear axis, and with conventional histopathological parameters used in the grading of endometrial adenocarcinomas. Sixty-three endometrioid adenocarcinomas were included in the study. Both Vv and mean shortest nuclear axis showed an acceptable reproducibility and the correlation between them was moderate (Spearman test; rs = 0.8). One-third of the tumours showed a marked intra-tumour variation. A considerable discrepancy between Vv and/or mean shortest nuclear axis and nuclear and architectural grade was found.