Morphometric analysis of micronucleuses and interstitial collagen in breast tumors

Abstract

The present work aims to establish the density of micronucleus and interstitial collagen distribution of benign and malign tumoral diseases from human breast. The Feulgen reaction and Thricromic of Masson histochemical methods associated to digital image analysis were used. Slices (4 µm) were selected containing biopy fragments, diagnosed as Fibroadenoma (FA), Fibrocystic disease (FD) and Infiltrated ductal carcinoma (IDC). The results of the mean number of micronucleus exhibited similar values in FA (90.8 ± 4.5), FD (80.3 ± 4.0) and normal tissue (83.0 ± 4.1). However, significantly lower values than those were found in IDC (176.5 ± 88). The interstitial collagen distribution showed a significant increase (p < 0,001) in the FA (8101.4 ± 405.07) and FD (7046.78 ± 352.33) cases, when compared to the normal mammary tissue (1733.13 ± 86.65) and IDC (2165.94 ± 108.29). These findings suggested that the Feulgen reaction associated with digital image analysis can be used to evidence important and specific nuclear and extracellular alterations in the breast tumor diseases.