Fractional incorporation of [3H]thymidine and DNA specific activity as assays of inhibition of tumour growth.

The Fractional Incorporation (FI) of [3H] thymidine ([3H]TdR) has been examined in small lung tumours after cyclophosphamide (CY) treatment in vivo and compared to the DNA specific activity (SA) at different times after treatment. FI was found to correlate with the incidence of labelled cells after treatment, whereas SA did not, due to the loss of DNA from drug-killed cells 72 h after treatment. The FI is independent of the precursor concentration in the tissue, and therefore may give a better index of DNA synthesis in irregularly perfused tissues than SA. Following either CY or 60Co radiation treatment, the time necessary for FI to reach the pretreatment level is quite similar to the growth delay measured for the FI depression 45 h after treatment and growth delay has been established in the Lewis lung tumour, which would allow the prediction of growth delay induced by another agent to be made within 2 days of treatment.