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DNA Ploidy of Primary and Metastatic Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancers
Don L. Burgio, MS, MD;
John R. Jacobs, MD;
Zosia Maciorowski, MS;
Maria Del Mar Alonso;
Haline Pietraszkiewicz;
John F. Ensley, MD
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1992;118(2):185-187.
Abstract
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• Regional metastases are a major determinant in the treatment outcome of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Metastases do not respond as well to cytotoxic therapy as do primary tumors. DNA diploid tumors or tumor components also respond poorly to intermittent cytotoxic therapy. In our series of 497 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the percentage of pure DNA diploid tumors and the mean DNA indexes in 497 primary tumors and 82 regional metastases were 34% and 1.54 and 50% and 1.34, respectively. Paired comparisons were performed in 61 patients and revealed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of DNA diploid tumors (27.4% to 41.2%) in associated lymph node metastases. The clinical observation that patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and regional lymph node metastases have a poorer prognosis and a poorer response to cytotoxic therapy may in part be explained by the increased incidence of DNA diploid tumors in their regional lymph nodes, and the poorer response of such tumors to cytotoxic therapy.
(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1992;118:185-187)
Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Otolaryngology (Drs Burgio and Jacobs) and Hematology-Oncology (Mss Maciorowski, Alonso, and Pietraskiewicz and Dr Ensley), Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.
Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 11, 1991.
Presented, in part, at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Washington, DC, May 24, 1990.
Reprint requests to Department of Otolaryngology, Wayne State University, 540 E Canfield Ave, Detroit, MI 48201 (Dr Jacobs).
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