DNA-PLOIDY OF OVARIAN GRANULOSA-CELL TUMORS - LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN DNA INDEX OR PROLIFERATIVE INDEX AND OUTCOME IN 40 PATIENTS

Background. Most cases of granulosa cell tumor of the ovary are charac terized by relatively good outcome; however, some tumors behave aggres sively, and some tend to recur many years after the initial diagnosis. Because DNA ploidy has been shown to predict biologic behavior better than conventional prognostic variables in many types of genitourinary tumors, the DNA ploidy of granulosa cell tumors was studied to determ ine if this test correlates with recurrence or survival. Methods. Para ffin embedded tissue blocks were available from the primary ovarian tu mors of 40 patients. DNA ploidy, percent S-phase fraction, and prolife rative index were determined for each sample and were compared with pa tient outcome. Results. Of the 40 tumors, 33 were DNA diploid, 5 were DNA near diploid/aneuploid, and 2 were aneuploid. The Kaplan-Meier est imate of the probability of tumors not recurring within 5 years postop eratively was 0.907 (95% confidence interval: 0.811, 1.00). Conclusion s. There is insufficient evidence to claim that the DNA pattern is ass ociated with morphology, stage of disease at diagnosis, or tumor size or that either survival or progression free survival differs with resp ect to any of the conventional prognostic factors considered. However, progression free survival tends to be shorter for those whose maximal tumor dimension was at least 10 cm (borderline significance, P = 0.05 97), and survival time tends to be shorter for those with a high proli ferative index (P = 0.0008).