HE CYTOLOGIS'I' frequently estimates cyto-p1asmic:nuclear ratios in the evaluation of epithelial cells of the uterine cervix. It has been the impression of many investigators that this ratio is less in the cell of carcinoma than in the normal cell of the uterine cervix. This impression has been gained either from simple estimation of areas without measurement or from measurements made with a n ocular micrometer. T h e former method suffers because of its susceptibility to subjective error. I n the latter method only the greatest diameters of the cell and the nucleus are measured.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
This study was made to determine by more accurate means if there are significant differences in the cytop1asmic:nuclear area ratios of normal and pathological squamous epithelial cells of the uterine cervix and, if so, whether the use of this ratio is of value in the diagnosis of carcinoma.
MATERIAL
Slides of cell spreads from fifty-nine cervixes prepared by the method of Ayre and stained by the technique of Papanicolaou were used for this study. Included in this series are cells from normal controls (ten cases); carcinomas in situ (thirteen cases); invasive carcinomas (twelve cases), including both partially differentiated and undifferentiated types; postirradiated carcinomas (fourteen cases), including both preand postmenopausal cases; postmenopause (ten cases).