The importance of DNA flow cytometry in node-negative breast cancer
D. J. Winchester, R. B. Duda, C. Z. August, R. A. Goldschmidt, D. M. Wruck, A. W. Rademaker, D. P. Winchester and D. E. Merkel
Department of Surgery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
DNA flow cytometric analysis and conventional clinical factors were
compared with disease outcome in 257 patients with node-negative
infiltrating ductal carcinoma who had been treated between 1976 and 1983.
Median follow-up was 80 months; none of the patients received adjuvant
therapy. The relative prognostic importance of clinical variables, ploidy,
and S-phase fraction was analyzed by Cox multivariate analysis. Ploidy was
analyzable for 198 tumors and did not predict survival. Nuclear grade
predicted disease-free survival for all patients. For 71 patients with
diploid tumors, only high S-phase had a statistically significant
association with relapse. For 127 patients with aneuploid tumors, tumor
diameter predicted both disease-free survival and cancer death; histologic
grade was also significant for predicting disease-free survival. In
conclusion, flow cytometric determination of ploidy and S-phase fraction
can provide valuable predictive information in node-negative breast cancer
in addition to conventional variables.
