Clinical Applications of Flow Cytometry in Thoracic Diseases

(I) Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Diseases by Analysis of DNA Distribution

Abstract

(a) Flow cytometric analysis for DNA distribution in resected tissues, including lymph nodes, of 27 cases with thoracic diseases which consisted of 9 benign diseases and 18 malignant diseases was performed. These results were compared with the pathological findings.
(b) In a case with pathologically benign diseases, a diploid pattern was seen in more than 80% of the cells. Less than70% of the cells in cases with a pathological diagnosis of malignant disease were diploid, except in one case.
(c) In a case with primary lung cancer, a diploid in primary lesion of cancer was average 51.8% and however, a diploid in metastatic lymphnode was average 30.3%. Judging from these results, the growth rate in metastatic lesions was higher than that in primary lesions.
(d) The time required for flow cytometry was about 30 minutes but in cases of single cell suspension without tripsinization, the time was about 15 minutes. Flow cytometry is applicable to diagnosis during surgery combined with intraoperative pathological diagnosis.