Prognostic significance of DNA ploidy in mucoepidermoid carcinoma

Thirty-four mucoepidermoid carcinomas were studied retrospectively with regard to histological and clinical parameters. In 28 of the tumors DNA patterns were also assessed using flow cytometry. Twenty-two of the 28 tumors (79%) were DNA diploid and 6 (21%) DNA aneuploid. Two tumors (7%) showed intratumoral DNA as indicated by different stemlines in specimens investigated from different parts of the tumor. DNA ploidy correlated significantly with cervical lymph node status (P < 0.01), but not with tumor size or histological grade. The mean S-phase value was 2.7% and was significantly higher in aneuploid samples than in diploid ones (P < 0.05). The recurrence rate was significantly lower for patients with stage I and II tumor compared with those with stage III and IV disease (P < 0.01). Five aneuploid tumors showed significantly higher recurrence rates (5/6) than the diploid ones (1/22) (P < 0.01). In univariate analysis for survival, only N stage tumor (P < 0.05) and tumor DNA ploidy (P < 0.0003) had significant prognostic influence. Thus, DNA ploidy seems to be a valuable parameter for evaluating the biological behavior of mucoepidermoid carcinomas of the salivary glands.