Cell kinetic analyses of human malignant brain tumors (gliomas).

Administration of 3H-thymidine, either with or without mitostatic agents, to 24 patients with various gliomas revealed 1) in viable areas a labeling index (LI) for glioblastomas equal to 5-15%, 2) an LI of 1% or less in well-differentiated gliomas, and 3) the LI of anaplastic astrocytomas was intermediate and reflected the extent of anaplasia. Growth fraction was 0.14-0.44 in malignant gliomas (average 0.31 +/- 0.10), and cell cycle time obtained by means of stathmokinetic analysis was 75.6 +/- 45.7 hr. With few exceptions, the patients whose tumors showed an LI of 5% or more died within 1 year after the onset of disease, and no patients whose tumors at biopsy had an LI of over 5% survived more than 6 months. In contrast, there was a far better prognosis for patients whose tumors demonstrated an LI of less than 1%.