Short term effects of ionizing radiation on the recurrent or metastatic skin cancer--a quantitative DNA study.

A total of 72 smears from two cases of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck during radiation therapy were studied for DNA content. The percentage of aneuploid tumor cells in the range of lower ploidy was high in both cases and remained high throughout the treatment. The correlation between the percentage of aneuploid cells in metastatic squamous cell carcinoma and radiocurability of these lesions has been discussed.