Laser flow cytofluorimetry in the study of papilloma virus-induced lesions

HPV insertion into the genome can cause permanent changes in cellular DNA that disturb the regulation of cell proliferation. Most HPV-induced epithelial proliferative disease are benign, but not all. We have studied both types of lesion by automated laser flow cytometry to see if there were any permanent changes in the DNA that might serve as reliable prognostic indicators. There were 101 lesions of interest to the dermatologist, stomatologist and gynecologist. Although fluctuations in yields of cells make it difficult to formulate definite conclusions, since many results are heterogeneous and hard to summarize, we found dysplastic and metaplastic lesions always to be hyper- or hypodiploid and to our surprise two cases of common wart were hyperdisploid and another hypodiploid. This present study shows that laser flow cytometry can detect changes in the genome of lesions known to become malignant when the histological degree of transformation still indicates only a preneoplastic condition. This raises the problem of how we should label lesions like common warts, since laser flow cytometry clearly shows that they have net changes, though slight, in DNA content.