Nuclear DNA and histologic studies of genital lesions in diethylstilbestrol-exposed progeny. I. Intraepithelial squamous abnormalities.

Abstract

The nuclear DNA contents of 67 vaginal and cervical squamous lesions from 50 women who had been exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero were studied by use of Feulgen microspectrophotometry and correlated with histologic features and follow-up data. Based on the distribution of nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content, the lesions were separated into euploid, polyploid and aneuploid categories. Twenty-one specimens (14 cervical and 7 vaginal) histologically classified as immature squamous metaplasia had a euploid pattern. Of the 46 significant squamous abnormalities, 16 (8 cervical and 8 vaginal) were polyploid, and 30 (24 cervical, 5 vaginal, and 1 pericervical collar) were aneuploid. Most lesions having polyploid patterns were histologically classified as atypical metaplasia or slight dysplasia, whereas most aneuploid lesions were moderate or severe dysplasias. Follow-up data indicated that patients who had polyploid lesions usually reverted to normal following biopsy or therapy, unlike patients with aneuploid lesions, in whom persistence and recurrence rates were high after biopsy or therapy. The salient histologic criteria that distinguish polyploid from aneuploid lesions were defined. When the histologic findings were supplemented with nuclear DNA data, the biologic behavior of the lesions could be better defined.