Clinical relevance of tumor ploidy and micronucleus formation for oral cavity cancer

To study the clinical relevance of tumor ploidy and micronucleus formation as prognostic factors. Twenty-eight patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity were treated with primary radiochemotherapy consisting of irradiation up to 70 Gy in combination with cisplatin. Cell cycle distribu...

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Published inTumori Vol. 85; no. 4; p. 253
Main Authors Kolotas, C, Tonus, C, Baltas, D, Cernea, M, Vogt, H G, Martin, T, Strassmann, G, Zamboglou, N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.1999
Subjects
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
Disease-Free Survival
DNA, Neoplasm - genetics
Flow Cytometry
Humans
Mouth Neoplasms - drug therapy
Mouth Neoplasms - genetics
Mouth Neoplasms - radiotherapy
Ploidies
Prognosis
Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:To study the clinical relevance of tumor ploidy and micronucleus formation as prognostic factors. Twenty-eight patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity were treated with primary radiochemotherapy consisting of irradiation up to 70 Gy in combination with cisplatin. Cell cycle distribution, micronucleus formation and ploidy were evaluated by flow cytometry of biopsies taken before treatment and after irradiation to 10 Gy (5x2 Gy). Sexteen out of 28 patients relapsed after a minimum follow-up period of two years. Flow cytometry of the recurrence biopsy showed hyperpentaploid (5c exceeding) cells in 13/16 (81%) of the relapsed patients. In 7 patients the hyperploid clone was not present in the flow cytometry of the primary tumors. Ploidy could retrospectively be determined also by image cytometry in archival tumor material of the pretreatment specimens. Patients with a level below 100 5c cells per 10,000 cell nuclei were shown to have a significantly better prognosis than patients with more than 100 hyperpentaploid tumor cells. The micronucleus formation was 2-5 times higher in tumors showing a good response to treatment than in carcinomas relapsing within two years. The 5c-exceeding ratio measured by image cytometry and micronucleus formation proved to be good prognostic parameters for the clinical outcome of patients with locally advanced head and neck carcinomas.
ISSN:0300-8916
2038-2529
DOI:10.1177/030089169908500408