[Flow cytometry studies of the DNA content and proliferation kinetics of human tumors]

The authors investigate if cytometric parameters can be used for discerning malignant and benign tumors as well as for the prognostic classification of malignant tumors. Measures on leukemias, brain and prostate tumors, colorectal carcinomas, and renal carcinomas taken by some study groups of the Institute of Biophysics and Radiobiology are cited and discussed with respect to the above mentioned aspects. The analysis showed that fractions of cells in phases of the cellular cycle as indicators of the proliferation rate are only of little diagnostic value because of the too great zone of dispersion. Especially the differentiation between benign and malignant tumors is not clear enough. In case of renal carcinomas, however, there is a marked correlation between prognosis and aneuploidy measured by cytometry. Thus the DNA index as a quantitative parameter of aneuploidy seems to be also of clinical interest for the determination of malignancy.