Flow Cytometric Analysis of Nuclear DNA Content in Human Gastric Cancer Cells Obtained from Endoscopically Biopsied Specimens

Hironobu Kimura, Masahiro Kanno, Hiroyuki Takamura, Hajime Arakawa, Kiichi Maeda, Makoto Uogishi, Hiroshi Sodani

Department of Gastroenterology, Keiju Hospital

Flow cytometric (FCM) DNA studies were performd on cell suspensions of biopsy specimens from gastric mucosa in 73 patients with gastric cancer. DNA aneuploidy was detected in 49 tumors (67.1%), that is, in 5l.7% (15/29) of early gastric cancers and 77.3% (34/44) of advanced gastric cancers. The DNA index (DI) ranged from 1.0 to 2.8. A significant correlation was found between the DI of biopsy materials and that of surgically obtained ones (r=0.9426). Serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion, and vascular invasion were significantly higher in aneuploidy than in diploidy (p<0.05). The prevalence of aneuploidy in endoscopically obtained specimens may provide additional prognostic information and information on biologic variables.

Key words
flow cytometry, DNA ploidy of gastric cancer, DNA contents of biopsy specimen

Reprint requests
Hironobu Kimura Department of Surgery, Yatsuo General Hospital
7-42 Fukushima, Yatsuo-machi, Nei-gun, Toyama, 939-23 JAPAN

Accepted
September 8, 1993

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