[Correlation of DNA ploidy in fresh tumor tissues to prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
Because of the heterogeneity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), current TNM staging system could not indicate the prognosis of individual patients. Some available biological indexes would make up the deficiency of TNM staging system. This study was to investigate the prognostic significance of DNA ploidy in NPC.


METHODS
Between Jan. 1999 and Feb. 2000, the DNA ploidy in fresh NPC samples from 53 naive NPC patients with poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). Of the 53 patients, 32 received radiotherapy alone, 21 received 1 course of chemotherapy (cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil) at the end of the 4th week of radiotherapy.


RESULTS
Of the 53 patients, 32 (60.4%) had DNA diploid and 21 (39.6%) had DNA heteroploid. The differences in age, sex, clinical stage, N stage, and chemotherapy were not significant between diploid group and heteroploid group (P>0.05). The median follow-up was 73 months (range, 12-84 months). The 5-year overall survival rate was 65.61%. The 5-year overall, distant metastasis-free, and local progression-free survival rates were significantly higher in diploid group than in heteroploid group (80.92% vs. 42.86%, P=0.002; 84.26% vs. 44.53%, P=0.003; 92.59% vs. 72.65%, P=0.118). By Cox regression analysis, DNA ploidy and clinical stage were correlative factors for overall survival rate (P=0.020, P=0.017) and distant metastasis-free survival rate (P=0.007, P=0.011).


CONCLUSIONS
DNA ploidy and clinical stage are independent prognostic factors of NPC. The NPC patients with DNA heteroploid are more easily to emerge distant metastases than those with DNA diploid.
Han
Fei
F
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, PR China.
Wang
Han-Yu
HY
Xia
Yun-Fei
YF
Liu
Meng-Zhong
MZ
Zhao
Chong
C
Lu
Tai-Xiang
TX
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000782:Aneuploidy; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D004171:Diploidy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm