DNA measurements of cervical epithelial cells in combination with scanning electron microscopy.

A method is described in which the surface morphology of benign and malignant cervical cells is investigated with a combined light microscope-scanning electron microscope, after the measurement of the DNA content of each individual cell in the same instrument. The suspect cells can thus be identified by an increased aneuploid DNA content (greater than 5C) and not primarily by morphology. The DNA content was measured, after a quantitative acriflavine-Feulgen staining, by using a microphotometer attached to the combined microscope. It was found that the suspect cells show a different surface morphology compared to normal cells from a benign specimen.