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DNA content of parathyroid tumors
1Ist Institute Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
Background:
The significance of DNA ploidy in indicating the benign or malignant character of parathyroid and other endocrin tumors is controversial.
Materials And Methods:
DNA content of paraffin embedded parathyroid samples from 25 patients was measured with flow cytometry.
Results:
The DNA index (DI) was 1.0 in all nonneoplastic samples as well as in 50% of adenomas (10/20) and in one carcinoma (1/2). The remaining 45% of the adenoma cases (9/20) and the other carcinoma showed doubled DNA content (DI = 1.9-2.0). The increased DI did not correlate with either clinical data (sex, age, tumor size, preoperative serum Ca++ or parathormone, primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism) or morphology.
Conclusions:
These results indicate that the DI has no value in deciding the benign or malignant character of a given sample. However, the prognostic value of tetraploidization (the potentially increased risk for malignancy) could not be ruled out.