[Cytophotometric studies for evaluating the prognosis in endometrial cancer]

This paper deals with a prospective cytophotometric study of specimens from 48 cases of primary endometrial carcinoma. The tumor material was obtained from the region of tumor invasion immediately after an operation and in 8 cases by fractional curettage after ultrasonographic localisation of the tumor. The specimens were air-dried and Feulgen stained. The cytophotometric examinations were performed with a scanning cytophotometer. A computer-assisted data registration and processing was carried out. The histological diagnosis of the tissue specimen and curettage specimen was established according to standardized criteria. 32 out of the 48 investigated cases of endometrial carcinoma were diploid. Observations conducted over a period of 12 months showed a partially significant correlation (u-test according to Mann and Whitney) between DNA-content and stage of the tumor (FIGO), histological grade of the tumor, relative depth of myometrial invasion as well as the clinical course. A differentiation based on the ploidy and the average relative DNA content (AE) in relation with typing is not possible. It was not possible to state the difference between average nuclear surface (F) and individual morphological variables. The average extinction, as a measure of the chromatin density, was determined for each specimen. A significant increase of the average extinction was established for carcinomas which infiltrated more than 2/3 of the uterine wall. Ploidy, average relative DNA content and average extinction provide an invaluable additional parameter in the assessment of the prognosis, post-operative therapy and aftercare of patients with endometrial carcinoma.