The Clinical Value of Flow Cytometric DNA Content Analysis in Patients with Soft Tissue Sarcomas

The nuclear DNA content of 148 high-grade soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities and trunk was determined by flow cytometry, using tumor material from paraffin-embedded tissue. The patients were part of a prospective randomized clinical trial on the efficacy of adjuvant single-agent chemotherapy with doxorubicin. Chemotherapy did not improve the metastasis-free survival (MFS). After a median follow-up time of 48 months (range, 2 to 97), a multivariate analysis of prognostic factors for developing metastatic disease was performed. DNA aneuploidy was found to be an independent prognostic risk factor in addition to histologic malignancy grade IV, intratumoral vascular invasion, tumor size over 10 cm, and male sex. Patients with none or one risk factor had a 5-year MFS of 79%, with two risk factors 65%, with three risk factors 43%, and with four and five risk factors 0%. About one half (78 of 148) of the patients with three factors or less belonged to a group with a MFS over 60%. The combination of different risk factors, including DNA aneuploidy, seems to be a useful prognostic model for soft tissue sarcomas, which could be of value to select high-risk patients for further trials with adjunctive therapy.

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Comparative DNA cytometry of primary and recurrent soft tissue sarcomas.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2019.37.15_suppl.e22516 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. e22516-e22516

Author(s):

Irina Dashkova ◽

Larisa N. Vashchenko ◽

Oleg Ivanovich Kit ◽

Inna A. Novikova ◽

Ekaterina Komarova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Soft Tissue ◽

Dna Content ◽

Soft Tissue Sarcomas ◽

Literary Analysis ◽

Proliferation Index ◽

Cell Distribution ◽

Dna Cytometry ◽

Flow Cytofluorometry ◽

M Phase

e22516 Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are aggressive tumors with a high degree of recurrence. Radical resection within healthy tissues allows to reduce the recurrence percentage to 25-30% without subsequent therapy. The literary analysis has shown that the study of various biological properties of primary and recurrentsoft tissue tumorsis being conducted. However, currently there is a lack of information to understand the reasons for STS recurrence. The goal of investigation was to reveal the distinctive features of the DNA content and cell distribution in the phases of the cell cycle of recurrent STS. Methods: DNA cytometry in the tumor tissue of 30 primary soft tissue sarcomas and 30 STS recurrences was carried out using the method of flow cytofluorometry. The tumor ploidy and cell distribution in the cell cycle phases were analyzed. Results: A number of differences in the DNA cytometric parameters of primary and recurrent STS have been revealed, they include: an increase in the proportion of aneuploid tumors in case of recurrence, the number of tumors with DNA index within the mitotic cycle, an increase in the proportion of cells in G2+M- phase of diploid and aneuploid tumors and a decrease in S- phase of aneuploid ones. It has been shown that with a G2 differentiation degree, the proportion of cells in G2+M, S- and proliferation index of recurrent STS is significantly lower than the primary parameters. An increase in the proportion of cells in G2+M- phase and a decrease in the rate of proliferation of recurrent STS, depending on the stage, are shown only in case of stage III. Conclusions: The revealed features of DNA content and cell cycle of tumor cells of soft tissue sarcomas will allow to approach to understanding of biological bases of recurrence of this malignant disease.

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