[The changes in nuclear DNA amounts in the development and progression of uterine cervical cancer determined by...

After microsopically-directed sampling of the tissues from various histological sections taken from 16 cases of cervical dysplasia, 6 cases of carcinoma in situ, 11 cases of stage Ib invasive cervical cancer of keratinizing type, 28 cases of large cell non-keratinizing type and 14 cases of small cell type, nuclear DNA levels of the cells dispersed from the tissues were measured by cytofluorometry after Feulgen stain. The DNA levels of cells obtained from normal cervical squamous epithelium and squamous metaplastic epithelium were in 2C(diploid)-4C(tetraploid) regions and those from mild and severe dysplasia were in 2C approximately 4C or high 4C and in low 2C or 2C approximately high 4C or 8C(octaploid) regions respectively with the mode of 2C. In five of 6 cases (83.3%) of carcinoma in situ, the amount of DNA in the neoplastic cells ranged up to the hyperoctaploid region with the mode of 2C or 4C. There were hyperoctaploid cells in 90.9% of cases of the keratinizing type, 96.4% of cases of the large cell non-keratinizing type and 100% of cases of the small cell type. The incidence of hyperoctaploid cells in samples from superficial invasion (stromal invasion less than 3mm) was not different from that of deep invasion (stromal invasion of more than 5mm) in each histological type. When the modal values for nuclear DNA in the superficially invasive lesions were compared with those of the deeply invasive lesions, aneuploidy was more frequently observed in the lesions of deep stromal invasion, irrespective of the histological type. The dominant changes in the mode according to the depth of stromal invasion were 2C to aneuploid in keratinizing type and 4C to aneuploid in cases of large cell non-keratinizing type and small cell type. The results suggest that the hyperoctaploid and aneuploid cells are useful markers for quantitative discrimination among dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and invasive squamous cell carcinoma and that aneuploid stem cells may be generated from 2C and 4C stem cell lines in the progression of stromal invasion.