DNA-Feulgen-cytophotometric analysis of single cells isolated from paraffin embedded tissue

This study describes a method for the isolation of cells from paraffin embedded tissues for DNA-Feulgen-cytophotometric measurements. The relevance of the method used is demonstrated by the analysis of the DNA-distribution pattern of cells isolated from an alveolar sarcoma of the soft tissues of a 10-year old girl. The comparison between freshly prepared imprint preparations and specimens after pepsin--extraction clearly shows, that the preparation mode used did not influence the relative DNA-content. The mean values of DNA/nuclei did not show a decrease even after prolonged pepsin treatment (90 minutes). Therefore this method permits access to stored histopathological material for retrospective DNA-Feulgen-Cytophotometric investigations.