Morphometric prognostic index in breast cancer

To assess the ability of the morphometric prognostic index (MPI) in predicting clinical outcome in a group of breast cancer patients with short-term follow-up and to assess the relationship between MPI and other prognosticators.The study group consisted of 63 cases of breast cancer. Follow-up data were available for 48 patients. MPI values were calculated, and degree of nuclear and tubular differentiation was investigated in each tumor. S-phase fraction (SPF), estrogen and progesterone receptors were also studied.The group of patients with MPI values0.60 had percent values of disease-free survival significantly higher than did those with MPI valuesor = 0.60. Furthermore, significant direct correlations were found between MPI and degree of nuclear atypia and between MPI and SPF. Significant inverse relationships were found between MPI and tumor progesterone receptor levels and between MPI and degree of histologic tubular differentiation.The validity of MPI as a prognosticator in breast cancer was confirmed, even in a limited number of patients observed in short-term follow-up. MPI seems to be a reliable and economical prognosticator in selecting breast cancer patients for adjuvant chemotherapy.