DNA-PLOIDY, G2M-FRACTIONS AND PROGNOSIS OF STAGE-B AND STAGE-C PROSTATE-CARCINOMA

Paraffin embedded tissue of 49 stage C and 27 stage B prostate adenoea rcinomas was investigated by flow cytometry. All patients were treated by radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy and followed up for 5-10 years. The tumour was separated from the benign tissue to inc rease the proportion of tumour cells. Ten stage C and seven stage B ca rcinomas had to be excluded because of poor fixation. Six of the 39 (1 5%) stage C and 1/20 (5%) stage B carcinomas were aneuploid. Cell cycl e analysis was done with correction for sliced nuclei and background s ubtraction. The threshold between carcinomas with low and with increas ed (''tetraploid'') G2M-fraction was determined by comparing carcinoma s with and without tumour progression. Sixty-seven percent of the pati ents with non-euploid stage C carcinomas and 11% of those with euploid carcinomas suffered from tumour progression (P<0.01). The respective values for the stage B carcinomas were 67% and 6% (P<0.01). These resu lts demonstrate the strong prognostic impact of DNA-ploidy and G2M-fra ctions for each individual patient.