DNA HISTOGRAM INTERPRETATION BASED ON STATISTICAL APPROACHES

Image cytometric DNA measurements provide data which are most often in terpreted as equivalent to the chromosomal ploidy although the chromos omal and the DNA ploidy are not identical. The common link between the m is the cell cycle. Therefore, if destined for DNA ploidy interpretat ions, the DNA cytometry should be performed on a population-oriented s tochastic basis. Using stochastic sampling the data can be interpreted by applying the rules of stochastic processes. A set of statistical m ethods is given that enables a DNA histogram to be interpreted objecti vely and without human interaction. These statistics analyse the preci sion and accuracy of the entire measurement process. They give in erro r probabilities for accepting a measurement as reliable, for recogniti on of stemlines, stemline aneuploidy, and for evaluating so-called rar e events. Nearly 300 image cytometric DNA measurements from breast can cers and rat liver imprints examples have been selected to demonstrate the efficiency of the statistics in each step of interpreting DNA his tograms.