Flow cytometry in primary breast carcinomas: Prognostic impact of S‐phase fraction according to different analysis patterns

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present work was to study the prognostic impact of ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF) assessed according to recently described methods. These methods of analysis combine different ploidy groups and separate euploid (good) prognostic groups from noneuploid (bad) prognostic groups. The definition of euploidy varied according to the author; some of them even included aneuploid peaks with few events. A comparison was also drawn to the average SPF and the diploid peak SPF observed in aneuploid histograms.Methods: From January 3, 1990 to January 7, 1999, 1,984 previously untreated, invasive breast carcinoma samples were snap-frozen and processed for FCM. The present study evaluated all nondiploid and nonmultiploid histograms, using different analysis patterns and the values of the average SPF and diploid SPF.Results: SPF is a salient prognostic factor even after multivariate analysis for DFS and MFS. Using several methods of analysis of ploidy and SPF shows that the classical method of analysis involving separation of ploidy according to diploidy versus aneuploidy and analysis of SPF restricted to the aneuploid peak in nondiploid and nonmultiploid histograms is as relevant as other recently proposed patterns of analysis, and that the average SPF or the diploid SPF of aneuploid tumors does not add significant prognostic information.Conclusions: SPF is a valuable predictor of survival and can be confidently assessed in a simple way by restricting the analysis to the peak of interest (except for multiploid tumors).

DNA copy number aberrations associated with aneuploidy and chromosomal instability in breast cancers

“…DNA aneuploidy is frequently observed in malignant tumors, and it accounts for two thirds of breast cancers (21)(22)(23). In this study, the frequency of aneuploidy was 67.4%, and this is consistent with the previous data.…”

S‐phase fraction determined on fine needle aspirates is an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer – a multivariate study of 770 patients

“…15,16 The CVs of diploid peaks ranged from 0.7 to 7.8 (median 2.5). It was higher (P < 0.001) in aneuploid (median 8.9, mean 9.7, range 1.3-36.8) than in diploid (including peridiploid) tumours (median 4.3, mean 5.2, range 0.4-27.2).…”

Cytogenetic testing for therapeutic indication in cancer

“…The tumors are diagnosed as malignant or benign based on the pathologist's findings. These findings include the classification of the tumors during histologic examination, which is often followed by the determination of whether the cells of the tumor are diploid or aneuploid using flow cytometry [81][82][83][84][85][86][87]. Further evaluation includes whether the cells are positive for the presence of estrogen or progesterone receptors.…”