title: Sister chromatid exchange in lymphocytes from patients with malignant lymphoma.
abstract: Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies were studied in differentially stained lymphocytes from 47 patients with malignant lymphoma. Thirteen patients were untreated when studied. The mean SCE frequency [+/- standard error (SE)] for these patients was 12.7 +/- 0.9 per mitosis. The mean score for 40 controls was 6.1 +/- 0.3. SCE mean scores were significantly higher in the untreated patients than in the controls (P less than 0.001). Seven patients were treated with radiotherapy alone. They demonstrated a mean SCE frequency (8.8 +/- 0.8) significantly lower (P less than 0.01) than that found in untreated patients. Eleven patients received cyclophosphamide within 4 weeks prior to study. They demonstrated a mean SCE frequency (14.3 +/- 1.3) significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than that found in patients who had received regimens that did not contain cyclophosphamide in the prior 4 weeks (11.1 +/- 1.3) or who had been off drugs for at least 8 weeks (10.1 +/- 0.8). Our data suggest that untreated patients with malignant lymphoma have elevated SCE frequencies, which may be further increased by certain chemotherapeutic agents.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002877:Chromosomes, Human; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014750:Vincristine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D001761:Bleomycin; D014750:Vincristine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone