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Background: There is a subjective disagreement about nuclear chromatin in the field of patholo gy. Objective values of red, green, and blue (RGB) light intensities for nuclear chromatin can be obtained through a quantitative analysis using digital images. Methods: We examined 10 cases of well differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of the rectum, small cell lung carcinomas, and moderately differentiated squamous cell lung carcinomas respectively. For each case, we selected 30 representative cells and captured typical microscopic findings. Using an image analyzer, we de termined the longest nuclear line profiles and obtained graph files and Excel data on RGB light intensities. We assessed the meaningful differences in graph files and Excel data among the three different tumors. Results: The nucleus of hematoxylin and eosin-stained tumor cells was expressed as a combination of RGB light sources. The highest intensity was from blue, whereas the lowest intensity was from green. According to the graph files, green showed the most noticeable change in the light intensity, which is consistent with the difference in standard deviations. Conclusions: The change in the light intensity for green has an important implication for differentiating between tumors. Specific features of the nucleus can be expressed in specific values of RGB light intensities.

Background: Nodular fasciitis is the most common reactive mesenchymal lesion to be misidentified as a type of sarcoma. HuR is an mRNA-binding protein that can stabilize cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA leading to COX-2 overexpression. The aim of this study is a comparison of the expressions of COX-2 and HuR and the relationships between their expressions and the clinicopathological parameters in nodular fasciitis and low-grade sarcoma. Methods: We measured the expression of HuR and COX-2 in 21 cases of nodular fasciitis and 37 cases of low-grade sarcoma using immunohistochemistry. Results: The frequency of cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for HuR was 5 of 21 cases of nodular fasciitis (23.8%) and 23 of 37 cases of low-grade sarcoma (62.1%) (p = .013). COX-2 expression was moderate or strong in nodular fasciitis (12/21, 57.1%) and in low-grade sarcoma (29/37, 78.4%) (p = .034). In addition, a significant difference existed between these two entities in terms of the relationship between moderate or strong COX-2 expression and HuR cytoplasmic immunoreactivity (p = .009). Moderate or strong COX-2 immunoreactivity correlated with nuclear (p = .016) or cytoplasmic HuR (p = .024) expression in low-grade sarcoma but not in nodular fasciitis. Conclusions: This study suggests that HuR and COX-2 expression may be useful to differentiate nodular fasciitis from low-grade sarcoma.