Quantitative flow-microfluorometric analysis of the DNA in cells from neoplasms of the urinary bladder: correlation of aneuploidy with histological grading and the cytological findings.

Abstract

The total DNA content in single cells from bladder washingtons of patients with tumours in the bladder has been analysed by means of a rapid-flow cytofluorometer. The frequency of occurrence of aneuploid cell populations has been related to the cytological findings and the histological grading according to Bergkvist et al. The frequency of occurrence of aneuploid cell populations in 228 patients increased from 7% for tumours of grades 0 and 1 to 79% for grade III tumours. In cell material cytologically classed as benign the frequency of occurrence was 8% increasing to 96% for poorly differentiated carcinomas. In patients with tumours of histological grade II, subdivided into one group with minor atypical features with no invasion and one with major deviation from the normal cell picture and suspected or manifest invasion, the frequencies of occurrence of aneuploidy were 9% and 68% respectively. The degree of aneuploidy has been determined by comparison of the position of the DNA values in relation to the normal DNA values. In 54 irradiated patients with persistent or recurrent tumours the position of the aneuploid cell lines changed in the diploid direction in comparison with that for 65 non-irradiated patients for the majority of which the aneuploid cell lines were in the tritetraploid region. The biological significance of the different degrees of aneuploidy is as yet unknown.