Nuclear DNA content and the number of Barr bodies in premalignant and malignant lesions of the uterine cervix.

A study was conducted to determined whether it might be possible to screen for carcinoma in cells of the uterine cervix by determining the number of Barr bodies present. This determination was correlated with the measured values of nuclear DNA content. Cell samples were taken from 41 cases of premalignant and lesions of the uterine cervix as diagnosed by the Papanicolaou procedure. Slides were stained with acetic orcein, and the incidence of single and double Barr bodies as well as nonspecific chromatin was scored on 100 cells per case. DNA values were determined after Feulgen staining using a microspectrophotometer. The incidence of double Barr bodies showed a significant increase in cases of dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma. Correlated with this, the DNA histograms showed a decrease in the diploid mode and an increase in the tetraploid mode in those cases. Most cases that showed an excessive increase in nonspecific chromatin were early invasive carcinoma of the cervix. This technique could be used to predict the presence of invasive carcinoma of the cervix.