Flow cytometric analysis of ovarian adult type granulosa cell tumors

Abstract

It is difficult to determine the prognostic factors of ovarian adult type granulosa cell tumors (GCT) at the time of diagnosis. We tried to analyse the role of DNA content in the biological assessment of GCT. The nuclear DNA content of 25 patients with ovarian GCT was investigated by flow cytometry using paraffin-embedded tissue and compared with clinicopathologic parameters. Twenty tumors were diploid and five were aneuploid. Significant correlations between the ploidy status and microscopic features (diffuse type) and high mitotic activity were found. There were no significant correlations between the ploidy status and age, tumor size, menopausal status, stage (International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians; FIGO), vascular invasion, cellular atypia, nucleolar prominence and proliferative index. Our results indicate that GCTs tend to be diploid, and aneuploidy is correlated with diffuse type growth and high mitotic activity.