Flow cytometric analysis of nuclear DNA content in advanced gastric cancer and its relationship with prognosis.

Cell nuclear DNA content was determined by flow cytometric analysis in 270 patients with deeply infiltrating (beyond the submucosa) cancer, so-called advanced gastric cancer. Aneuploidy was observed in 150 cases (55.6%). Multivariate analysis showed that the DNA ploidy pattern was the third significant prognostic factor behind peritoneal dissemination and liver metastasis. The 5-year survival rate of diploid patients (62.9%) was significantly higher than that of aneuploid patients (22.7%) (P less than 0.01). This trend was most clear in patients with Stage III and IV tumors. Among aneuploid cases the high DNA index group indicated a worse prognosis than the low DNA index group. It was thus assumed that the DNA ploidy pattern was a useful prognostic indicator of advanced gastric cancer.