Volume corrected mitotic index (m/v index) in ovarian cancer
Abstract
The M/V index expresses the mitotic activity of epithelial cancer as the number of mitotic figures per square millimeter of neoplastic epithelium in the microscope field. The M/V index is less subject to variation in the amount of neoplastic epithelium between neoplasms or in size of the microscope field than conventional mitotic index (mitoses/high power fields). In ovarian cancer, the mitotic activity had the best reproducibility among histoquantitative variables between different observers and laboratories. The M/V index was the best morphometric predictor in ovarian cancer in 105 cases studied. The prognostic value of two histological and two morphometric grading methods was inferior to that of the M/V index. Morphometric grading methods were better reproducible than subjective histological grading. In Cox's regression analysis the clinical stage (FIGO), the M/V index, and nuclear DNA content had independent prognostic value. Tumour ploidy emerged as the only independent predictor in advanced ovarian carcinoma. The M/V index was the best predictor of prognosis in stage I ovarian carcinoma.