Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that flow cytometric measurement of DNA content and cell proliferation is useful and provides significant information about the diagnosis and prognosis of non Hodgkin lymphoma.
Patients and methods: Clinical and histologic information of 66 lymphoma patients was registered at diagnosis. Fifty thick sections of lymphoma samples and 67 control samples were deparaffined, rehydrated, dissected and DNA stained using a modification of the method described by Hedley. We have studied the relationship between flow cytometric results and clinical, histologic, treatment outcome and prognosis of lymphoma.
Results and conclusions: No DNA aneuploid histograms were obtained from the control non neoplastic, lymphoid samples. Side scatter light values were significantly larger in high grade lymphomas. DNA content didn't show any correlation with clinical presentation and evolution of lymphoma, however, DNA aneuploidy was more frequent in high grade lymphomas (p = 0.0172), and in these patients, aneuploidy was related to with a lower percentage of complete remission achievement (p = 0.0248). A high S phase was associated with shorter survival in patients without remission post-treatment (p < 0.0001) and in low grade lymphomas (p = 0.0174). In conclusion, our data suggest that DNA flow cytometric study provides useful information for the diagnosis of lymphoma and identifies different prognostic groups of patients.