[Prognostic value of cellular ploidy in adenocarcinoma of the middle rectum]

A retrospective study of DNA content in 38 medium-rectal adenocarcinomas (a rectal part between 8 and 12 cm. from anus) was performed using flow cytometry in order to find probable correlations among ploidy, grading, staging and survival in patients who had undergone a surgical operation from January 1975 to December 1989. At the beginning of the work, 21 patients were alive and 17 were dead. Histologically 15 carcinomas (39.4%) were G1, 22 (57.8%) were G2 and only 1 (2.6%) was G3. Moreover 1 case (2.6%) was pT1, 7 (18.4%) were pT2 and 30 (78.9%) were pT3. 11 adenocarcinomas (29%) were euploid and 27 (71%) were aneuploid. These percentages agree with literature data. 11 of dead patients (64.7%) had aneuploid neoplasias and 6 (35.3%) diploid; 16 of alive patients (72.2%) had aneuploid carcinomas and 5 (23.8%) diploid. The difference of survival between aneuploid and diploid carcinomas isn't statistically significative (X2 = 0.168 ns). No correlation was found among aneuploidy, grading and staging, probably on account of small number of analyzed cases, owing to particular and little rectal part included in the study. Likely, having a larger case number we'll be able to obtain more incisive informations from this type of analysis in the next future.