DNA ploidy of colorectal carcinoma. Correlation with conventional prognostic variables.

The DNA content of tumor cells was determined in 51 cases of colorectal carcinoma and correlated with conventional clinicopathologic features. Normal diploid content of DNA was found in cells from 19 tumors, and aneuploidy was found in cells from 32 tumors. An aneuploid stemline of tumor cells appeared to be associated with advanced disease. However, a statistical analysis using Pearson's chi-square test disclosed no significant correlation between DNA ploidy of tumor cells and conventional clinicopathologic characteristics of colorectal carcinoma, such as differentiation, staging, lymph node status, and depth of invasion.