Cell kinetic variables in human tumours were investigated before and during therapy. Tumour cell material was collected by sequential thin needle aspiration biopsy. Small variations in DNA replication could be detected by 3H-thymidine autoradiography. In tumours with a high rate of replication, therapy induced changes could also be detected with flow cytometry and static cytophotometry. Endocrine treatment with glucocorticoids, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy were associated with reduced rates of DNA replication in malignant lymphomas. The conformity between labelling index and S-phase estimates from DNA histograms was poorer in biopsy specimens collected during therapy than in pretreatment specimens.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Improved preparation technique of cervical carcinoma for flow cytometric DNA analysis with tissue disintegration in hydrochloric acid.

An one-step procedure using a nuclear isolation medium containing propidium iodide has been found to be a suitable preparation technique for flow cytometric DNA analysis in breast cancer samples. In the case of cervical squamous carcinoma, a pretreatment with HCl seems to be a methodological improvement. One advantage with the HCl modification is that some "false" near-diploid cell populations are abolished. These "false" G0/G1 peaks may represent diploid nuclei with a different stainability for propidium iodide compared to normal diploid nuclei. The HCl treatment has, furthermore, the advantage of increasing the elution of nuclei (mean factor of 4.0), especially non-diploid nuclei from higher differentiated squamous carcinomas.

Cell Nucleus↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prospective malignancy grading and flow cytometry DNA distribution in biopsy specimens from invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Flow cytometry was used for the investigation of the DNA distribution in biopsy specimens from 72 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. A prospective grading score system using tumor cell parameters and tumor host parameters was also applied. 50% of the tumors were aneuploid with up to 4 different tumor populations. The definition of DI +/- 8% was applied. The median age of the patients was 61 years with FIGO median value of 2B. Significant correlations were observed between ploidy and MGS-scores and stage stadium according to FIGO. Increasing MGS score was noted with increasingly distorted ploidy. No significant difference was found between DI below and above 1.5 for MGS, FIGO stage stadium, histology according to Ackerman, tumor parameters and tumor host parameters for the total material. However, for aneuploid tumors MGS and tumor cell parameters were related with DI below and above 1.5 (P = 0.05 and P = 0.02, respectively). No correlation between clinical stage according to FIGO and S-phase % was noted. It remains to be settled to what extent DNA flow cytometry and MGS-scoring in our ongoing prospective series of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix can take their place in the multifactorial prognostic index suggested by Jacobsen et al (Am. J. Clin. Oncol. 8: 39, 1985).

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Flow cytometric DNA analysis of normal and cancerous human endometrium and cytological-histopathological correlations.

The DNA content in individual cells from 112 histopathologically normal endometria and from 222 malignant endometrial tumors was measured using flow cytometry. In the normal endometrial cases only single DNA peaks were found, all in the diploid region, and the range of DNA index values was used for defining the limits for diploid tumor cases. In most cases with aneuploid cell populations, an additional peak was found in the normal diploid region. However, combined cytological and histopathological analysis showed that a majority of these diploid cells were to be considered as tumor cells. Aneuploid cell populations were found in 43% of malignant endometria; in the remaining endometrial carcinomas, the flow cytometrical findings showed no differences compared to those of benign tissue. Flow cytometry in this respect did not prove useful as a diagnostic screening method. Ploidy aberrations were correlated to histopathology. Aneuploidy was more common (62%) in poorly differentiated tumors than in highly/moderately differentiated tumors (29%). Two or more aneuploid cell populations were found in 6% of the cases. No difference in aneuploidy was found between FIGO stage I and II (36% and 34%), but aneuploidy was more frequent in stage IV (86%). In normal endometria the fraction of cells with DNA content corresponding to S-phase (S-fraction) was 9.7% on average in the proliferative phase and 6.2% in the secretory phase. In well and moderately differentiated diploid tumors the S-fraction was about the same (8.8% and 9.2%), but in poorly differentiated tumors it was significantly higher (12-16.5%).

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic value of flow cytometrical DNA measurements in stage I-II endometrial carcinoma: correlations with steroid receptor concentration, tumor myometrial invasion, and degree of differentiation.

The prognostic value of flow cytometric DNA measurements of individual tumor cells was studied in 166 patients with endometrial carcinoma stage I-II. Follow-up time was 1-46 months and 110 patients were followed for more than 2 years. Three different ways of estimating DNA ploidy were evaluated, and the use of normal endometria in defining diploidy was considered the best. DNA-ploidy had a much more marked prognostic value in terms of 2-year recurrence-free survival than other known prognostic parameters, such as degree of differentiation, range of myometrial invasion and estradiol and progesterone receptor concentrations. The proliferative activity as determined by DNA flow cytometrical analysis was not correlated with prognosis.

Aneuploidy↗