Correlation of DNA ploidy and clinical outcome in early gastric carcinomas.

The nuclear DNA content was measured in 120 early gastric carcinomas and the results correlated with histologic findings and S-phase fractions measured by in vivo bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling. Forty-six cases (38%) were diploid and 74 cases were aneuploid. In aneuploid tumors, incidence of submucosal invasion, vascular invasion, and lymph node involvement were significantly higher than that in diploid tumors. In addition, the S-phase fractions in aneuploid tumors were significantly higher than those in diploid tumors. There was no recurrence in diploid tumors; whereas 21% of cases with aneuploid tumors recurred. These results indicate that DNA content may be a prognostic factor in early gastric carcinoma.