[Impulse cytophotometry determination of the DNA content of paraffin-fixed neuroblastoma]

The aim of the study was to develop a method to obtain a single cell suspension from paraffin fixated neuroblastoma tissue for measuring the DNA content by flow cytometry, and to detect possible correlation between the histological grading and the DNA stemline, and to relate these findings to the patients' prognosis. 51 samples of the fixated neuroblastoma tissue were measured. It was possible to determine the DNA content in 38 probes of the material. 79% of the evaluated samples showed aneuploid DNA stemlines, 21% showed euploid stemlines. Despite the small number of probes it was found, that in relation to the histological grading of neuroblastoma a lower grade of malignancy correlated with an euploid DNA content and a higher grade of malignancy correlated with an aneuploid DNA content. A correlation between DNA stemlines and the patients' prognosis was not found.