title: DNA grading of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.
abstract: The prognostic influence of the nuclear DNA distribution pattern of human urothelial carcinomas of the bladder was investigated in 25 patients. Nuclear DNA content was measured by scanning microphotometry in Feulgen-stained histologic sections. A DNA malignancy grade (DNA-MG) ranging from 0.01 to 3 on a continuous scale was computed for each patient from the single cell DNA values. With the aid of the Cox proportional hazard regression model, DNA-MG was revealed as having a strong influence on survival time (p = 0.0004). Possible influences of other parameters (histological grade, stage, endoscopical tumor size and multiplicity, age) on survival could not be assessed in this model. This may be explained by the low number of cases and by the weakness of the influence of these parameters. Divided into two groups of patients according to their DNA-MG (group I: DNA-MG less than 1.5, group II: DNA-MG greater than or equal to 1.5), the histological grade had an influence on survival (p = 0.021). There was a good association of DNA-MG and histological grade (p = 0.05). In comparison to the histological grade DNA-MG seems to allow a more precise prognostic statement for the individual patient as it reveals additional information on survival for patients categorized according to their histological grade. We conclude that DNA-MG is an objective and scalar index for the prognosis of bladder carcinoma patients.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004247:DNA