DNA ploidy of ovarian granulosa cell tumors. Lack of correlation between DNA index or proliferative index and outcome in 40 patients.

BACKGROUND

Most cases of granulosa cell tumor of the ovary are characterized by relatively good outcome; however, some tumors behave aggressively, and some tend to recur many years after the initial diagnosis. Because DNA ploidy has been shown to predict biologic behavior better than conventional prognostic variables in many types of genitourinary tumors, the DNA ploidy of granulosa cell tumors was studied to determine if this test correlates with recurrence or survival.

METHODS

Paraffin embedded tissue blocks were available from the primary ovarian tumors of 40 patients. DNA ploidy, percent S-phase fraction, and proliferative index were determined for each sample and were compared with patient outcome.

RESULTS

Of the 40 tumors, 33 were DNA diploid, 5 were DNA near diploid/aneuploid, and 2 were aneuploid. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the probability of tumors not recurring within 5 years postoperatively was 0.907 (95% confidence interval: 0.811, 1.00).

CONCLUSIONS

There is insufficient evidence to claim that the DNA pattern is associated with morphology, stage of disease at diagnosis, or tumor size or that either survival or progression free survival differs with respect to any of the conventional prognostic factors considered. However, progression free survival tends to be shorter for those whose maximal tumor dimension was at least 10 cm (borderline significance, P = 0.0597), and survival time tends to be shorter for those with a high proliferative index (P = 0.0008).