Flow cytometric dna analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Prognostic value of nuclear DNA content was studied retrospectively using flow cytometry in 203 cases of resected hepatocellular carcinoma. The occurrence of DNA aneuploidy, which was detected in 50% of patients, correlated significantly with tumor size and the presence of vascular invasion or intrahepatic metastasis. Overall, patients with DNA aneuploid tumors had a significantly worse prognosis than those with DNA diploid tumors (P < 0.001) and, also in subdivided groups by tumor size (P < 0.01). Among DNA aneuploid patients, the survival times were significantly shorter for patients with a low DNA index (< 1.5) than for those with a high DNA index (≥1.5) (P < 0.05). In a Cox multivariate analysis, nuclear DNA content provided significant prognostic value (P = 0.008), as did vascular invasion (P = 0.001) and intrahepatic metastasis (P = 0.005). These results indicated that nuclear DNA content has an important prognostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma.