The influence of preoperative radiotherapy on the prevalence of DNA an
euploidy and the prognostic significance of tumour DNA ploidy was eval
uated in 126 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus.
Preoperative radiotherapy with 30 Gy was performed in 52 patients. DNA
ploidy was analysed by flow cytometry on nuclei isolated from paraffi
n embedded tumour tissue. DNA aneuploidy was identified in 75 tumours
(61%) and found to correlate significantly with tumour stage. The perc
entage of aneuploid carcinomas was significantly reduced by preoperati
ve radiotherapy (surgery only group, 71%; radiotherapy group, 47%, p=0
.01). Although the median survival time was slightly better in the dip
loid than in the aneuploid group (11.3 and 8.0 months respectively), t
his difference was not statistically significant. A curative tumour re
section was the most important prognostic factor. Preoperative radioth
erapy did not prolong survival in oesophageal cancer.