Study of carcinogenic effects of in vitro argon laser exposure of fibroblasts.

Safety of laser exposure and tissue interaction and possible future carcinogenic effects of laser energy are investigated in this study. Mouse fibroblasts of the BALB/3T3 strain have now become the standard in science for the investigation of carcinogenic effects of a variety of physical and chemical/toxic agents. BALB/3T3 fibroblasts were grown in tissue culture and then exposed to x-ray irradiation and argon laser energy. The cells were then grown nine generations and scored for malignant type III foci in a randomized double-blind manner. Argon laser-treated cell groups were then compared with normal untreated controls and known carcinogenic x-ray controls. The results demonstrated that exposure of mouse fibroblasts in vitro tissue culture to argon laser energy did not produce a statistically significant transformation frequency as compared with that of known carcinogenic agents such as x-ray or untreated controls.