CELL CYCLE KINETICS OF HUMAN BLADDER TUMOR IN SITU MEASURED WITH BROMODEOXYURIDINE (BrdU)

Thirty-seven patients with transitional bladder cancer were given a 0.5-hour intravenous infusion of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) at the time of endoscopic biopsy or transurethral resection to label tumor cells in DNA synthesis phase (S-phase). The tumor specimens were fixed with 70% ethanol, embedded in paraffin, sectioned, and stained by an indirect immunoperoxydase method using anti-BrdU monoclonal antibody as the first antibody. The BrdU labeling index, S-phase fraction (SPF), determined by counting the number of BrdU-labeled cells in the tissue sections. Almost all of grade 1 tumor had an SPF lower than 5% and the mean SPF was 2.7±31.6% (mean±SD), while the means for grade 2 and grade 3 tumor were 8.3±2.1% and 16.7±4.1%, respectively. (p