Correlation of dna flow cytometric results and other prognostic factors in primary breast cancer

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Abstract
The percentage of cells in S‐phase and DNA‐ploidy have been measured in 300 primary mammary carcinomas by means of DNA‐flow cytometry (FCM). The data were compared with the age and menopausal status of the patients as well as with the size, regional lymph‐node involvement, histologic type, grade and concentration of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors of the tumors. A DNA‐diploid distribution of the G0/1 ‐peak was found in 37.6% of the cases. The mean percentage of S‐phase fractions was 4.83. DNA‐aneuploid tumors had significantly higher amounts of S‐phase fractions (6.12%) than DNA‐diploid tumors (2.66%). There was also a significant correlation between the DNA measurement data (DNA‐ploidy and S‐phase fractions) and histologic grade, as well as the content of ER and PR, but not between DNA‐ploidy, S‐phase fractions, tumor size (T) and evidence of axillary lymph‐node metastases. DNA‐FCM gives a biological characterization of the tumor in addition to the histopathologic examination. The method can be used as a routine procedure because of the reliability and reproducibility of the results as well as the short time needed for the measurements.