Lattice theory approach to metastatic disease patterns in autopsied human patients: Application to metastatic neuroblastoma

It is recognized that subsets of some morphologically homogeneous tumors may have different metastatic distribution patterns. Lattice theory is a multidimensional generalization of the cube. If each autopsied patient is regarded as a 'snapshot' (lattice corner), then each lattice edge represents an event of metastatic spread. A 'minimum entry' construction program was applied to the 40 neuroblastoma patients with complete autopsies at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. This lattice has the inductive property that reconnecting a single pathway does not decrease its length. Subset patterns in patients identified by this method may have diagnostic and therapeutic significance.