Agnieszka Jaszcz-Gruchala, Iwona Swiatkiewicz, Bozena Lackowska, Andrzej Gruchala, Aleksander Niezabitowski

Comparative Analysis of DNA Content Estimated by Flow and Image Cytometry in Breast Tumor Samples

Department of Tumor Pathology, Oncology Center, Krakow

Abstract

The DNA ploidy status of 186 fresh primary breast tumors was analysed in a comparative study of flow cytometric (FCM) and image (IA) analyses. Tumor size, histology and nodal status were also taken into account. The same piece of fresh tissue was used for touch imprints (IA) and for DNA analysis by FCM. Both methods provided concordant DI values in 158 (85%) tumors (r=0.7490). The tumor grade and lymph node status significantly correlate with ploidy estimated by FCM and IA. We conclude that FCM and IA provide comparable results of DNA content although occasional discrepancies occur. IA seems to be a more sensitive method especially for diploid cases detected by FCM.