ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR SIZE, NUCLEAR-DNA CONTENT AND PROLIFERATION INDEX IN STEREOTAXIC BIOPSIES FROM BRAIN-TUMORS

In this paper we study the feasibility of measuring the diverse biolog ical parameters in stereotaxic biopsies from human brain lesions. Thes e biological parameters are the nuclear area (NA), the proliferation i ndex (PT) and the ploidy level, the latter of which was evaluated by m eans of the DNA index (DI) and histogram type (DHT). These parameters were assessed by means of the digital cell image analysis of Feulgen-s tained nuclei. This analysis was performed on 124 samples from 22 comp uted tomography (CT)-guided stereotaxic biopsies. The data show that t he methodology used here enables the above parameters to be assessed o n small samples without limiting the classical anatomopathological dia gnosis. The data also reveal that the DHT corresponded more accurately to the ploidy level in the sample analysed than the DI. Lastly, it ap pears that supratentorial astrocytic tumours of the adult, which const ituted the majority of the cases analysed here, are strongly heterogen eous at a biological level.