Cytometric study of carcinoid tumors and their metastases.

A series of 5 lung and 11 gastro-entero-pancreatic carcinoid tumors has been studied microspectrophotometrically. All lung carcinoids and the majority of gut-derived tumors had near-diploid stemlines. The DNA absorption profile of metastases was similar to that of primary tumors. There was no difference in DNA patterns of tumors with and without metastases and it is suggested that cytophotometry cannot predict the metastasizing capacity of carcinoid tumors.