[Quantitative study on esophageal cytology. II. Measurement of DNA contents of normal, dysplastic and malignant squamous cells of the esophagus].

The relative DNA contents of normal esophageal squamous epithelial cells, hyperplastic, dysplastic (grade I and II), nearly malignant and early malignant squamous epithelial cells of the esophagus were measured in 74 cases by microspectrophotometric technique. The results showed that from normal cells to early stage of malignancy, the DNA contents gradually increased with the increase in severity. In addition, the distribution of DNA values became broader; the peak DNA values shifted to the right, reduced and disappeared. In the meantime, aneuploid cells appeared. There was a definite positive correlation between DNA content and nuclear area in precancerous dysplasia (r greater than 0.9). The results indicate that the current grading of esophageal cytology has its quantitative biochemical basis.