FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF C-MYC ONCOPROTEIN IN NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CARCINOMA - COMPARISON WITH IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL RESULTS

c-myc oncoprotein expression was evaluated in 36 non-small-cell lung c arcinomas using immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analysis. Form alin fixed and paraffin embedded material was used. The same monoclona l antibody (mouse anti-human c-myc) was employed both for immunohistoc hemistry and flow cytometry. For the immunohistochemical evaluation we calculated the percentage of stained cells on 200 neoplastic cells. c -myc oncoprotein was measured using flow cytometry by linking the mono clonal with a secondary FITC-conjugated antibody; for each sample 20 0 00 events were analysed and the percentage of cells positive for green fluorescence was calculated. DNA content was obtained by propidium io dide staining. Results showed a high correlation between immunohistoch emical and cytometric data, suggesting that flow cytometry could be us ed as an alternative to immunohistochemistry in evaluating nuclear ant igens. Moreover, using flow cytometry information on DNA content can b e obtained simultaneously.