The clinical application of DNA content and kinetic parameters in the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck

Patients with squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHN) vary tremendously in their natural history and treatment outcome even amongst subgroups where the clinical and morphological parameters are similar. The ability to pretherapeutically identify individual patients and patient subgroups that differ in these regards would greatly facilitate clinical and basic science cancer research in this tumor. DNA content parameters are simple and accurate intermediate markers of a tumor's biology and reflect the fundamental process associated with the development of malignancy chromosomal aneuploidy. In patients with SCCHN, DNA content parameters have been shown to be highly predictive of the natural history of the tumor and treatment outcome. They are also useful as intermediate markers for the study of the underlying molecular-genetic properties and processes responsible for the biological differences seen in these cancers. DNA content parameters therefore serve as fundamental 'translational' bridges in clinical and laboratory research in patients with SCCHN.