Risk of chromosomal disease due to radiation. Tentative estimate from the study of radiation-induced translocations in human fibroblasts.

A sample of 214 reciprocal 2-break translocations observed in fibroblasts, both after accidental 'in vivo', and experimental 'in vitro' gamma-irradiation, was studied. The distribution of the breaks along the chromosomes does not seem at random. The minimal possible imbalance that these translocations could induce by malsegregation, if they existed in germ cells, was estimated. These imbalances were compared with the chromosomal trisomies and monosomies known to be compatible with life after birth in man. It is concluded that about 2/5 of the radiation-induced translocations might induce a viable trisomy and/or monosomy. This result, similar to that previously obtained in human lymphocytes, indicates the validity of the extrapolation from one tissue to another, and hopefully to germ cells.