The prognostic power of flow-through cytophotometric DNA determinations for testicular diseases

Flow-through cytophotometric DNA determinations with the ICP 11 were carried out in nuclei of testes stained with ethidium bromide. The histograms of healthy testicles showed two haploid peaks (1 CI/1CII), a diploid (2C) and a tetraploid peak (4C). The more spermatogenesis was histologically reduced, the more the height of the haploid and tetraploid peaks and of the graph in the area of the S-phase was decreased. It resulted from a relative increase of diploid cells of testicular parenchyma. Conclusions can be drawn from the DNA histogram on the degree of inhibition of spermatogenesis, but not on its etiology (inflammation, malposition, endocrime disorders). In torsions of tests, the histogram showed differences from normal graphs, increasing with the degree of necrosis. The histograms of malignant tumors of testes had many more signals in the area of the S-phase and in the hypertetraploid region than those of testes without malignant tumors. In addition, they all had aneuploid peaks, although not in each of the multiple samples of one tumor. Nonseminomas differed more from tumor-free testes than did seminomas. The DNA determinations in nuclei of testes gave objective information about spermatogenesis and, in torsions of testes, about the rate of necrosis. It facilitated the intraoperative decision as to whether a testis should be conserved or extirpated. Malignancy could be established with a high degree of certainty. The difference between histograms of testicular carcinomas and healthy testes seemed to give prognostic information.