Flow-through fluorocytophotometry of different brain tumours.

The flow-through cytophotometric method was used to investigate the single-cell DNA content in 60 tumours of the CNS and allied structures (9 meningiomas, 5 ependymomas, 15 astrocytomas, 11 anaplastic astrocytomas, 8 glioblastomas, 7 medulloblastomas, 2 oligodendrogliomas, 1 anaplastic oligodendroglioma, and 2 neurinomas). The cytophotometric parameters were correlated with morphological and clinical data of the tumours. The results are summarised in Tables 1--7. With regard to the DNA content of their cell nuclei, the gliomas present a behaviour similar to tumours in other organs, but in the present study the cytophotometric signs of malignancy in gliomas are not so evident as in carcinomas or sarcomas. The information obtained by flow cytophotometric methods may be helpful in diagnosing the degree of malignancy in brain tumours.