Combined analysis of flow cytometry and morphometry of ovarian granulosa cell tumor

BACKGROUND: It is difficult to determine the prognosis of granulosa cell tumors (GCT) at the time of diagnosis. METHODS: The nuclear DNA content of 17 patients with ovarian GCT was investigated by flow cytometry using paraffin-embedded tissue. Nuclear area (NA), nuclear perimeter (NP), and nuclear shape factor (NSF) were measured by an image analyzer using hematoxylin- and-eosin-stained sections. RESULTS: The follow-up period of the patients ranged from 2 months to 11 years. Thirteen tumors were diploid or near diploid, whereas one was tetraploid, and three were aneuploid. Two tumors had varying degrees of DNA content heterogeneity. Crude survival of the patients with an euploid tumor (13 diploid, 1 tetraploid) was more favorable than that of the patients with an aneuploid tumor. Patients with S-phase fraction (SPF) greater than 10% or DNA content heterogeneity experienced disease recurrence or metastasis. A significant difference was observed in NA and NP between those with and without metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that DNA aneuploidy, large SPF, DNA content heterogeneity, and large NA and NP are adverse prognostic factors in GCT. Thus, flow cytometric and morphometric measurement may provide a rapid and valuable method to predict the biologic behavior of GCT.