PROGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT OF SMALL-CELL LUNG- CANCER BY FLOW-CYTOMETRY

The authors determined the desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content of 45 small-cell lung cancers, by flow-cytometry (FC), from bronchial brushi ngs to assess the prognostic meaning of the DNA index, the percentage of cells in DNA synthesis phase (% S) and the ploidy. Moreover, the va lue of this tumorous cells brushing was assessed for Flow-cytometric a nalysis, Bronchial brushing offers some advantages opposite to biopsie s, but the low quantity of collected cells reduces the number of tumor s analysable by FC. The output is low (39%) for determination of DNA i ndex, and moreover low (22%) for determination of % S. In regard to th e flow-cytometry analysis, the DNA content does not show any significa nt difference of survival where as the % S is related to survival, but it seems to be paradoxical in this study. Indeed, patients with small -cell lung cancer associated to high cells' percentage in DNA synthesi s phase have the longest survival.