Evaluation of morphological changes in histopathological images of ovarian and breast cancer tissues and its correlation with biochemical parameters

Abstract

Ovarian and breast cancers have become the foremost cause of fatality and are frequently diagnosed among women. Several factors have been found to be responsible for uncontrolled proliferation of epithelial cells of ovary and breast. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) is the result of increased oxidative stress in the cells that may be involved in many pathological deregulations including cancer, cell injury and aging. Various biomolecules like lipid, proteins etc. are considered to be damaged due to over production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a consequence of LPO. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is an important indicator of the lipid damage which is a by-product of LPO. The aim of the work is to do comparative evaluation of morphological features of dysplastic change of cells such as enlarge size, irregular shape, hyperchromatic nuclei etc. and its correlation with biochemical parameters. For the determination of MDA level in serum of ovarian and breast cancer patients, LPO assay was performed. The study comprised of 55 controls, 75 ovarian and 75 breast cancer patients. The results reveal that MDA levels, CA-125, WBC, are increase, while RBC, Hb and platelets count decreased in cancer patients as compared to normal. For comparing morphological changes in cells, 5 normal and 5 cancerous tissues have been evaluated for both types of cancers. It has been found that cancerous cells have increased value of count of cells, total area, average size, area fraction, perimeter, major axis length, minor axis length, however circularity value is decrease as compared to normal cells. These results suggest that the high MDA levels in serum are the consequence of increased oxidative stress which may cause DNA damage. Further, high oxidative stress in cancer patients may be correlated with the morphological changes in cancer cells.