Differential induction of sister chromatid exchange by chemical carcinogens in lymphocytes cultured from patients with solid tumors.

Three carcinogens with different requirements for activation were used to generate sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in cultured lymphocytes from 22 untreated patients with solid tumors. These data were compared to SCEs produced by incubating lymphocytes, from 44 normal persons, with the same carcinogens. In vitro treatments with butadiene epoxide (0.125 micrograms/ml) show no significant differences in the SCEs generated. However, in vitro treatment with mitomycin-C (0.04 micrograms/ml) did induce significant differences (p less than 0.05) in the distribution of the SCE scores. Treatment of the cultured cells with benzo(a)pyrene (10 micrograms/ml), a carcinogen requiring extensive metabolic activation, significantly (p less than 0.001) altered the distribution of the SCEs generated in vitro. The SCE data suggest that metabolic activities play an important role in the processing of carcinogens in solid tumor patients.