Tumor cell kinetics in elderly patients with cervical cancer

To determine whether cell kinetics in cervical cancer differ by patient age.

We analyzed specimens from 118 women who had been treated for cervical squamous cell carcinoma. In a preliminary study, labeling indices were determined in 16 patients using bromodeoxyuridine in vitro. Adjacent portions of the same specimens were analyzed by flow cytometry. Proliferation indices were calculated and compared with labeling indices for 12 diploid tumors. For the remaining 102 tumors, paraffin-embedded specimens were analyzed by flow cytometry to determine DNA ploidy and proliferation index. Using these findings, we examined the relationship between tumor cell kinetics and age.

There was a significant correlation between the labeling index and age (r = 0.86, P < .001) and a weak but statistically significant correlation between the proliferation index and the labeling index (r = 0.58, P < .05). The proportion of aneuploid tumors increased with age. The cutoff point of highest statistical significance was 65 years (P = .025). The proliferation index showed an age-dependent shift, and the cutoff point of highest statistical significance was also 65 years. Aneuploid tumors were more common in elderly patients aged 65 or more years. Proliferation indices were also significantly larger in the elderly patients (P < .005). Although stage III tumors were more common in the elderly, stage was not related to ploidy pattern or to proliferation index.

Tumor cell kinetics of cervical squamous cell carcinomas differ between elderly and younger women.