Clinical And Basic Study On The Relation Between Analysis Of DNA Cytometry Of Breast Cancer And The Prognosis

Objectives: To analyze reprospectively DNA contents of early breast cancers with bad prognosis and advanced breast cancers with good prognosis with flow cytometry (FCM) and to assess the value of FCM for prognosis of breast cancers, and then try to provide a method for the clinic to choose appropriate treatment. Methods: Patients were selected randomly from those who underwent surgery and conventional treatment in Tianjin Cancer Hospital from January 1990 to December 1992, including eleven patients with clinical stage I breast cancers who had underwent recurrence, metastasis even death in ten years after surgery and sixteen patients with clinical stage III breast cancers whose number of positive axillary lymph nodes were more than ten with ten years disease-free survival after surgery. And as control, patients were selected respectively from the same years, including 14 patients in clinical stage I with disease-free survival and 14 patients in clinical stage III with number of positive axillary lymph nodes more than .ten and bad prognosis. Then the DNA contents of all samples were tested with FCM, including DNA index (DI), s-phase fraction (SPF) and DNA ploidy. The characteristics of the DNA contents in both groups of clinical stage 1 and stage III breast cancers were analyzed. Results : (1) In the groups of clinical stage I breast cancers with bad prognosis, 54. 55%(6/11) of DNA ploidy were aneuploid, and 45. 45%(5/11) were diploid; in the groups of clinical stage I breast cancers with ten years free disease survival , 0%(0/14) of DNA ploidy were aneuploid and 100%(14/14) were diploid, there was significantly statistical difference in both groups(x2=10.048,P = 0.003). (2) DI in the groups of stage I breast cancers with bad prognosis was higher than that in groups of clinical stage I breast cancers with ten years free disease survival, there was no difference slatistically. (3) DI in the groups of stage III breast cancers with good prognosis was lower than that in the groups of stage III breast cancers with had prognosis, there was no difference statistically. (4) SPF in the groups of stage I breast cancers with bad prognosis was higher than that in the other groups , there was no difference statistically. (5) SPF in the groups of stageIII breast cancers with bad prognosis was lower than that in the groups of stage III breast cancers with good prognosis, there was no statistical difference. (6) There was no statistical difference in DNA ploidy in both groups of stage III breast cancer. Conclusion: It is useful to analyze the biological characteristics of the early and advanced breast cancers with FCM for clinic to assess prognosis and choose appropriate treatments.