Nuclear DNA density of parathyroid lesions

Nuclear DNA density analysis was carried out on six normal control human parathyroid glands and forty-six pathological lesions of human parathyroid tissue. The pathological glands had originally been classified as twenty hyperplasias, twenty-one adenomas, and five carcinomas in accordance with clinical-pathological information. Specimens had been obtained through the Surgical Pathology Department of the University Hospital, London, in the form of either imprints from the cut surface of a lesion, or as cell separation samples from a paraffin block. Nuclear DNA ploidy analysis of the normal glands showed, as expected, a diploid cell population. Sixty-one percent of nuclei of the carcinomas were above 2C, extending to 7C. There was a significant difference in nuclear DNA content between normal and benign tissue versus tissue classified as carcinoma. No significant difference in nuclear DNA ploidy could be established between the benign adenoma and hyperplasia tissue; however, marked significant DNA ploidy differences were found between tissue from the latter two and carcinoma. DNA ploidy from cell image analysis using Feulgen's reaction can be useful in establishing a differential diagnosis between carcinoma and benign lesions.