Flow Cytometric DNA Analysis of Colorectal Carcinoma

Abstract

DNA flow cytometry was performed on 51 freshly obtained colorectal carcinomas (29 colon cancers and 26 rectal cancers). DNA ploidy was diploid 19 and aneuploid in 32 tumors. DNA ploidy of tumor cells did not correlate with any of clinicopathological findings such as primary site, staging, histologic type, lymph node involvement, distant metastasis and histologic vascular invasion, but involvement of the distal lymph nodes and metastasis to the liver and peritoneum were found only in aneuploid tumors. The proliferation index (the fraction of tumor cells in S, G2 and M phase of the cell cycle) also did not correlate with any of clinicopathologic variables of colorectal carcinoma. However, tumors with the proliferation index of 30% or more showed histologic invasion of lymph vessels without exception.