Sensitivity of normal and malignant cells to shock waves.

We examined the cytotoxic effect of shock waves for primary (embryonic chick kidney and thigh muscle) and permanently growing normal and malignant cells (human, rat, and mouse) in suspension. To avoid the influence of different media, the cells were suspended in phosphate buffered saline and shock wave treated. In all cases the acute cytotoxic effect (measured by flow cytometry) was a function of the applied shock waves. The investigated cells differed in their LD 50 values which, however, do not reveal a general difference in sensitivity to shock waves for normal and malignant cells.