DNA content and genetic evolution of human colorectal adenocarcinoma. A study by flow cytometry and cytogenetic analysis.

We have conducted in parallel DNA flow cytometry (FCM) and cytogenetic (CG) analysis of a series of surgical specimens from 35 human colorectal adenocarcinomas. An excellent quantitative correlation was observed (r = 0.99) between modal peak values of FCM histograms and chromosome counts. This observation confirms that aneuploidy, as defined by FCM, accurately reflects the deviation from diploidy of the genomic DNA. FCM-derived DNA patterns have been analyzed in the context of the clonal chromosomal evolution determined by CG analysis. In the metaphases of a given tumor, even if karyotypes of different ploidy exist, the presence of identical marker chromosomes suggests a common origin for the multiple populations observed by FCM. Thus, heterogeneity in DNA content within a tumor, including the polyploidization step, would be indicative of genetic evolution.