Comparison of three assays for genetic effects of antineoplastic drugs on cancer patients and their nurses.

Three assays have been compared for their ability to detect genetic damage caused by antineoplastic drugs in cancer patients and possible damage in the nurses who administered these drugs. The assays were sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and chromosomal aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes, and the Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay on urine. Three comparisons were made: 1) patients before versus after treatment; 2) the administering nurses immediately after their work period versus after a few days off that followed (work and off-work); 3) the exposed nurses versus other nurses who did not administer antineoplastic drugs (controls).

A collaborative exercise on cytogenetic dosimetry for simulated whole and partial body accidental irradiation.

An experiment sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency was undertaken to compare dose estimation by cytogenetic analysis on aliquots of samples of irradiated blood sent by air to participating laboratories. Accidental acute whole-body irradiations to 0.7 and 2.

The present state and perspectives of micronucleus assay in radiation protection. A review.

The occurrence of micronuclei proved to be a sensitive biological indicator of clastogenic effects of many chemical and physical agents. The possibility of using the micronucleus technique in radiation protection as an alternative to the traditional chromosomal analysis has recently been followed with increasing interest. This review outlines the main biological and practical aspects of the micronucleus assay and discusses its potential to serve as a rapid and reliable measure of radiation overexposures and hypersensitivities.

Studies on the ultraviolet light sensitivity of Bloom's syndrome fibroblasts.

The sensitivity of Bloom's syndrome (bl/bl) fibroblasts to ultraviolet light (254 nm) has been estimated by 4 criteria: sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) formation, micronucleus production, cell survival, and host-cell reactivation of UV-irradiated adenovirus 2. In general, bl/bl strains did not differ significantly from the normal (+/+) strains in their response to UV treatment by any of the 4 criteria. One bl/bl strain, GM1492, was exceptional: It was abnormally sensitive to UV light in the SCE, micronucleus, and host-cell reactivation assays, but was not sensitive to UV as estimated by colony-forming ability.

Sensitivity of Bloom's syndrome lymphocytes to ethyl methanesulfonate.

Ethyl methanesulfonate induced several times as many sister chromatid exchanges (SCE's) in lymphocytes from individuals affected with Bloom's syndrome as in lymphocytes from controls or heterozygotes. In cultures of cells from an individual with Bloom's syndrome who had two populations of lymphocytes circulating in his blood--'low' cells having normal spontaneous frequencies of SCE's and 'high' cells having elevated frequencies--only the high cells showed the increased sensitivity to ethyl methanesulfonate.