title: Proliferative characteristics of primary and metastatic human solid tumors by DNA flow cytometry.
abstract: The percentage of cells in S-phase (S-index) was calculated from DNA histograms of 453 primary and metastatic human solid tumors (predominantly bladder, breast, colorectal, renal, prostate, ovarian and lung carcinomas, melanomas, and sarcomas). S-indices varied widely among both primary and metastatic tumors (1-48%); there was no significant difference in S-indices between primary and metastatic tumors. The S-indices for aneuploid tumors were significantly higher than for diploid tumors. When data for all aneuploid tumors were analyzed collectively, there was no significant relationship between S-index and DNA ploidy index. However, for colorectal and ovarian carcinomas S-indices increased, and for lung carcinomas S-indices decreased with elevation in the degree of DNA-ploidy. Lung carcinomas had the highest S-indices. Comparison of flow cytometry (FCM) and cytology data indicated that for most diploid tumors S-indices reflect the proportion of S-phase cells among a mixed population of normal and tumor cells. For most aneuploid tumors, the proportion of tumor cells estimated cytologically was similar to the proportion of aneuploid cells estimated by FCM. For a small proportion of aneuploid tumors a comparison of cytology and FCM data indicated the presence of a predominant diploid tumor stemline and a minor stemline with aneuploid DNA content. There was a wide spread in the values of S-indices within tumor groups defined by degree of differentiation and stage of disease at surgery.
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D004171:Diploidy; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007399:Interphase; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm