DNA in chordomas of the clivus Blumenbachi.

Chordomas of the clivus are frequently denoted as malignant, mainly because of their propensity to recur, their crucial location and the fatal clinical course. Although microscopical examination commonly reveals pleomorphism, particularly of cells and nuclei, the histological assessment of malignancy is not always appropriate. The measurement of DNA could provide important information for a classification of their biological behavior (grading).

DNA in human glioblastomas. A flow-fluorescence cytometrical examination of 96 tumors.

The Flow-Fluorescence Cytometric Method (FCM) was applied to investigate the DNA content and the ploidy outlines of each of 96 glioblastomas. No specific DNA pattern was detected, possibly because of the tangle morphology of these variable tumors. Due to their capricious growth the DNA distribution proved to fluctuate greatly.

Pineal region tumours of childhood.

In Germany, the relative frequency of pineal region tumours seems to be much higher than hitherto assumed. At the University Hospital Hamburg, from 1980-1985 17 children with pineal region tumours were encountered amongst 102 children with CNS tumours. Two-cell-type germinoma is the most frequent pineal region tumour.

DNA and prognosis of meningiomas: a comparative cytological and fluorescence-cytophotometrical study of 71 tumours.

DNA analysis in meningiomas was performed using flow-fluorescence cytometry in 71 tumours. Three subcategories of rather small, medium-sized or clearly abnormal growth activities were evident in each of the fibroblastic, transitional and syncytial tumour types. These categories reflected grades 1, 2 or 3 of malignancy on a four-grade scale in which the primary fibroscarcomas of the meninges are grade 4.