2004 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 74-78
Because the relative DNA content of tumor cells (DNA ploidy) is easily determined by flowcytometric analysis, DNA ploidy has been examined as a prognostic factor of solid carcinoma. However, it is still unknown why DNA aneuploid tumors exhibit a poor prognosis, and how we should clinically correspond to improve the prognosis. In this report, we reviewed the results of recent clinical trials considering the status of tumor DNA ploidy. The results suggest that more fundamental investigations and clinical studies would be needed to clarify the detailed mechanisms of the biological malignancy of DNA aneuploid carcinomas for clinical application in cancer treatment, because several clinical trials revealed that neither adjuvant chemotherapy nor irradiation therapy improved the prognosis of DNA aneuploid carcinomas.
