Significance of flow cytometry in the diagnosis and treatment of bladder tumors.

The results of application of flow cytometry (FCM) in analysis of 139 bladder irrigations of DNA contents in tumor cells from 52 cases of bladder tumors are reported. A comparison was made between this assay and cytological examinations as well as pathological grading. The results suggested that the accuracy of cytological analysis was apparently lower than the cell DNA measurement by flow cytometry, the higher the tumor pathological grading and the deeper the infiltration, the higher the heteroploid DNA contents in the tumor cells. Treatment of high heteroploid bladder tumor required radical cystectomy while the efficiency of simple electrosection or partial cystectomy appeared inferior. When FCM and the bladder tumor pathological grading had a high degree of correlation, especially in the high grading tumor, recurrence was high even when chemical treatment with bladder instillation of BCG was adopted. However, FCM cannot substitute for cystoscopy.