The prognostic significance of DNA measurements in endometrial carcinoma.

DNA analysis was performed in 71 cases of endometrial carcinoma, selected from a retrospective series of 445 cases registered at the Department of Gynecology, Radiumhemmet, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, during 1973-1975. The histological material from 37 patients surviving more than eight years was compared with that from those who died from cancer within two years. The prognostic value of the DNA distribution pattern of the tumors in relation to the clinical stage and the histological grade of the tumors was evaluated. Patients with near-diploid or -tetraploid tumors were found to have a significantly lower death rate than those with aneuploid tumors. The DNA distribution pattern was also found to correlate better with the survival rate than the clinical stage or the histological grade of the tumors.