DNA HISTOGRAM TYPING IN HUMAN SEMINOMAS

Characterization of the nuclear DNA content (DNA index and DNA histogr am type) was carried out in 9 normal testicular tissues and 21 seminom as. Proliferative activity was further determined in the seminomas. Nu clear DNA content was assessed by means of a cell image processor comp uting the integrated optical density on Feulgen - stained nuclei from formalin fixed paraffin - embedded materials. The results indicated th at the so - called normal testicular tissues exhibited DNA histograms where three cell nuclei populations emerged in varying proportions. Th ese three cell nuclei populations corresponded to haploid, diploid and tetraploid cell nuclei respectively. In contrast, most of the seminom as exhibited monomorphic DNA histogram patterns with a predominance of GO - G1 cell nuclei in the range of the 3c - 4c nuclear DNA content. Further studies will be necessary in order to determine whether the DN A histogram has a predictive prognostic value or. could be considered as a grading index.