Nuclear DNA analysis and prognosis in carcinoma of the thyroid gland : a nationwide study in Iceland on carcinomas diagnosed 1955-1990

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether DNA ploidy status and S-phase fraction affected the prognosis of patients with carcinoma of the thyroid gland. We reviewed all malignant thyroid tumours diagnosed in Iceland from 1955 to 1990. In all, 494 thyroid carcinomas were diagnosed during tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology 1994-11, Vol.425 (4), p.349-355
Main Authors: JONASSON, J. G, HRAFNKELSSON, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Carcinoma - classification
Carcinoma - genetics
Carcinoma - pathology
Cell Nucleus - pathology
DNA, Neoplasm - analysis
Endocrinopathies
Female
Histological Techniques
Humans
Iceland
Male
Malignant tumors
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Ploidies
Predictive Value of Tests
Prognosis
Registries
Retrospective Studies
S Phase
Sex Factors
Thyroid Neoplasms - classification
Thyroid Neoplasms - genetics
Thyroid Neoplasms - pathology
Thyroid. Thyroid axis (diseases)
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether DNA ploidy status and S-phase fraction affected the prognosis of patients with carcinoma of the thyroid gland. We reviewed all malignant thyroid tumours diagnosed in Iceland from 1955 to 1990. In all, 494 thyroid carcinomas were diagnosed during that period. By analysing tumour material from paraffin blocks by flow cytometry we were able to evaluate the ploidy status in 424 tumours and the S-phase value in 417 tumours. We detected aneuploid cell populations in 9.7% of papillary carcinomas, 24.3% of follicular carcinomas, 42.9% of medullary carcinomas and 78.6% of anaplastic carcinomas. Some 57% of tumours, mainly papillary carcinomas, had an S-phase value of less then 3%, whereas most of the other histological types of carcinoma, including all the anaplastic tumours, had an S-phase value of > or = 3%. Univariate analysis indicated that both ploidy status and S-phase fraction were significant variables. When taking into account known prognostic variables of thyroid carcinoma in a multivariate analysis, however, neither ploidy status nor S-phase value proved significant. We conclude that DNA ploidy status and S-phase values are not independent prognostic factors in thyroid carcinoma.
ISSN:0945-6317
1432-2307
DOI:10.1007/BF00189572