Nuclear DNA in histological and cytological specimens: measurement and prognostic significance

In recent years molecular biology techniques have provided new insights into the nuclear mechanisms associated with carcinogenesis. These have led to renewed interest in the measurement of nuclear DNA for diagnosis, prediction of prognosis, and assessing tumour response to therapy. Cytogenetics has been used successfully for this purpose for several decades, but technical problems have largely restricted this to haematological malignancies. However, technological improvements in flow cytometry and image analysis, together with new molecular biology techniques for measuring nuclear DNA, are providing useful information on nuclear ploidy and proliferative activity in solid tumours. Although many problems remain in this field, these new and improved techniques for measuring nuclear DNA are beginning to find a role in diagnostic pathology.