DNA aneuploidy in early breast cancer

High-resolution flow cytometric (FCM) DNA analysis was performed on 148 unfixed, frozen tissue samples from four groups of early breast cancers: invasive carcinomas (ICs) with predominance of carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (group I), small clinical cancers < or = 15 mm (group II), node-negative, clinical cancers (group III) and small screening-detected cancers < or = 15 mm (group IV). The median tumour size was 12 mm. The aim of the study was to support, with a larger sample, our recent findings with respect to DNA ploidy pattern in the selected group of ICs with predominance of DCIS (group I). Similar results to this group were found for both the small clinical cancers and the node-negative cancers, with respect to frequency of DNA aneuploidy (79% and 90%), DNA index (DI) distribution, intratumoral DNA heterogeneity and S-phase fraction. A high frequency of DNA hyperdiploid clones was found, in particular related to highly differentiated tumours. A significant difference was found compared with the screening-detected cancers, which were characterised by a much lower frequency of DNA aneuploid samples (49%) and may represent a biologically specific group of low-malignant, slowly growing tumours. Associations were shown between histological grade and DI subclasses, and between lymph node status and DNA diploidy/aneuploidy, whereas DI was not correlated with tumour size. The DNA ploidy findings in this series of early cancers are concordant to our own results from preinvasive lesions as well as those reported from series of more advanced cancers.