Sister chromatid exchange in lymphocytes of patients with cancer of the larynx.

The frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) was studied in cultured peripheral lymphocytes from 15 untreated patients with carcinoma of the larynx and 10 healthy control subjects. Bromodeoxyuridine-incorporated chromosomes were treated with Hoechst 33258 and stained according to conventional methods. To measure SCE frequency, at least 15 mitoses per donor were evaluated. The SCE values were found to be higher in cancer cases than in control cases.