Cell kinetics and prognosis in gastric cancer.
METHODS
The potential proliferative activity of primary gastric cancer was determined using the in vitro tritiated thymidine labeling index (LI) technique.


RESULTS
The proliferative rate had a wide range (0.1-28.4%) with a median value of 9.3%. The cell kinetics of the primary tumor were not related to clinicopathologic features, such as the patient's age and sex or the tumor's histologic type and stage. The contribution of cell kinetics to prognosis was investigated in a series of 28 patients (median follow-up, 34 months). The 3-year survival rate was 50% for patients with slowly proliferating tumors compared with only 13% for those with rapidly proliferating tumors. Moreover, in patients with high-LI tumors, the risk of death was more than sixfold greater than for those with low-LI tumors.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that cell kinetic studies might be an important discriminant to predict prognosis in gastric cancer.
Amadori
D
D
Department of Oncology, Morgagni-Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.
Bonaguri
C
C
Volpi
A
A
Nanni
O
O
Zoli
W
W
Lundi
N
N
Amadori
A
A
Magni
E
E
Saragoni
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002455:Cell Division; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013936:Thymidine
D013936:Thymidine