The Measurement and Significance of DNA Content in Primary Lung Cancer / 中国医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective: Our aims were to measure DNA content in primary lung cancer and to study the relationship between the DNA content and TNM stage, histological differentiation of tumor cell, cellular proliferation, and apoptosis. Methods: The DNA content and cellular proliferation were analyzed using flow cytometry. Tumor cell apoptosis was detected by using TUNEL method. Results: (1) The DNA index (DI) distribution ranged from 0.829 to 2.514. There were 41 cases (77.4%) of DNA aneuploid. The distribution of DI and DNA aneuploid was independent of histological subtypes（P>0.05）.(2) With the increase of TNM stage, the DI and the rate of DNA aneuploid increased（P<0.05）.(3) There was relationship between DI and histological differentiation of tumor cell. The DI was higher in tumors of poor differentiation than those in tumors of moderate and good differentiation（P<0.05 and P<0.01）. (4) The cellular proliferation index of aneuploid tumors was significantly higher than that of diploid tumors(P<0.01), while apoptosis index of aneuploid tumors was significantly lower than that of diploid tumors (P<0.01). Conclusion: Correlations exist between DNA content and TNM stage, hiological differentiation, cellular proliferation, and apoptosis.