Effects of DNA ploidy patterns on the survival of patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma.

To assess the prognostic value of DNA ploidy patterns, the DNA ploidy patterns of 37 primary gastrointestinal lymphomas were determined by DNA flow cytometry, using paraffin-embedded archival specimens. The DNA ploidy patterns were diploid in 21 tumors and nondiploid in 16 tumors. Advanced clinical stage, as determined by the Ann Arbor Staging Classification, and nondiploid DNA ploidy patterns were associated with significantly reduced survival of the patients, whereas tumor size, tumor grade, and the S-phase fraction of tumor cells were not correlated with survival. A multivariate analysis disclosed that the variables which had significant prognostic value for primary gastrointestinal lymphoma were the clinical stage of the disease and the DNA ploidy patterns of the tumor cells.