Clinical outcome and bromodeoxyuridine derived proliferation indices in 100 colonic and rectal carcinomas

Aim: In vivo labelling of human colonic and rectal tumours with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) and analysis by flow cytometry (FCM) allows the labelling index (LI), S phase duration (Ts) and the potential doubling time (Tpot) of the tumour to be estimated in vivo. Methods: The data for a series of 100 tumour specimens from 97 patients with colonic and rectal carcinoma was reported in 1991, and correlated with Dukesʹ classification and histological differentiation. Results: This study reports the eventual outcome of the 97 patients after 12 years. There were no significant associations between proliferation data of the index tumours and patient outcome. No adverse events were identified which could be attributed to the use of the halogenated pyrimidine label in vivo. Conclusion: Dynamic cell proliferation indices provide detailed information on the cell kinetics of colorectal tumours but these do not correlate with clinical prognostic markers or outcome.