Cell kinetic analysis in pediatric brain and spinal tumors: a study of 117 cases with Ki-67 quantitation and flow cytometry.

We present cell kinetic data including Ki-67 quantitation and flow cytometry on 117 pediatric brain/spinal cord tumors and review the literature. Although, in general, these proliferation indices are in agreement with the histologic grade, they are useful in prognostication in some instances when the histological features of malignancy are equivocal. Specific examples in which flow cytometry may prove particularly useful in this context are childhood ependymomas, which do not show frank anaplasia but have cellular foci with focal increase in mitoses, and choroid plexus neoplasms, where elevated S phase fractions have been associated with an adverse outcome. Thus Ki-67 quantitation and flow cytometry not only serve as useful adjuncts to conventional histologic grading but also in specific instances may provide new information on tumor prognosis.