DNA-PLOIDY STUDIES ON CYTOLOGICAL PREPARATIONS FROM BREAST CANCERS BYIMAGE-ANALYSIS - COMPARISON WITH FEULGEN STAINING PERFORMED IN DESTAINED PAPANICOLAOU SLIDES

Image cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy status of 40 fresh primary bre ast carcinomas was performed in a comparative study on cytologic prepa rations stained directly by the Feulgen method and smears from the sam e tumors Feulgen-stained after Papanicolaou staining. There was a 0.82 overall concordance in diploid and aneuploid tumor classification and a good correlation (r = 0.736, P < 0.001) between the DNA indices det ermined by the two methods. Discordances are probably due to tumor het erogeneity. This study demonstrates that image cytometric DNA analysis on previously routine-stained cytologic preparations is feasible and reliable for pretreatment DNA analysis and suggests potential applicat ions in retrospective studies with cytologic material from archives. ( C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.