Relevance of ploidy related parameters for prognosis in malignant fibrous histiocytomas

Ploidy associated parameters were determined in 161 malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFH) by DNA image cytometry. The rate of euploid cases in MFH with histopathological grade I was 42%, grade II 16% and grade III 6%. Univariate analyses showed that cases with a low percentage of diploid cells (< 40%) and cases with high rates of aneuploid cells between 4c and 8c (> 9%), octaploid cells (> 0%) and 16-ploid cells (> 0%), high 2.5c (> 60%) and 5c (> 16%) exceeding rates and cases with high DNA indices of the first (> 1.08) and the second (> 3.78) peak had significantly reduced survival rates. Multivariate analyses with Cox regression demonstrated that in addition to grade, only the percentage of aneuploid cells between 4c and 8c, the 5c exceeding rate and the DNA index of the first peak had independent prognostic impact. It was concluded that besides ploidy status and grading, ploidy associated parameters are suited for prediction of survival in MFH.