Objective: To present the results of the analysis of DNA content in renal adenocarcinoma and its correlation with histopathological findings as a first step to conduct predictive studies.
Material and method: DNA analysis was carried out by flow cytometry in deparaffined and fresh samples (1-4 per tumour) from 192 tumours. Correlation to stage, size, growth pattern and grade was studied using the squared chi test.
Results: The percentage of non-diploid tumours increased with the number of samples analyzed. Use of multiple sampling allowed to classify as non-diploid an additional 19% tumours. 57% tumours were homogeneously diploid, while the rest were non-diploid showing a wide variety of patterns: homogeneous, heterogeneous, and even tumours with more than one different non-diploid population. A positive correlation was seen between DNA content pattern, pathological stage and grade.
Conclusions: Multiple sampling is essential to obtain representative information on DNA content. Prior to conduct predictive studies, the correlation between DNA content, stage and grade should be studied to preclude addition of non-independent information.