title: Prognostic significance of tumor ploidy in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: Fresh tumor specimens obtained from 53 consecutive patients with FIGO Stage III ovarian carcinoma were analyzed by flow cytometry. All patients were treated by a standard protocol: maximal tumor excision and cisplatin/cyclophosphamide/adriamycin chemotherapy, and followed-up for at least 24 months. Thirty-two percent of tumors were diploid (DNA index = 1.00) and 68% aneuploid (DNA index greater than 1.00), with more aneuploid tumors being associated with larger residual tumor and poor cellular differentiation. Patients with diploid tumors were found to survive significantly better than those with aneuploid tumors, in terms of survival rate (65% versus 31%), median survival time (33 months versus 13 months), and mean disease-free interval (17.8 months versus 8.2 months). The influence of the amount of residual tumor after primary surgery on survival was only significant in patients with diploid tumors. Our results support previous findings that tumor ploidy is an important prognostic indicator in ovarian cancer. We found aneuploidy to be associated with a poorer clinical outcome in Stage III disease, regardless of the amount of residual tumor after primary surgery and the degree of cellular differentiation.
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors: S K
authors: SK
authors: Khoo
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Hurst
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Kearsley
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Dickie
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Free
authors: P G
authors: PG
authors: Parsons
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Whitaker
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Ward
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000782:Aneuploidy; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004171:Diploidy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011003:Ploidies; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis