title: Elevated sister chromatid exchange rate in lymphocytes of subjects treated with arsenic.
abstract: An elevated sister chromatid exchange (SCE) rate was found in the lymphocytes of six patients treated with arsenic. All had stigmata of arsenic use as well as biopsy-proven skin cancers. The arsenic exposed patients had a mean of 14.00 SCE/mitosis while 44 normal controls had a mean of 5.8 SCE/mitosis. Chromosome breakage analysis revealed no difference between the two groups. SCE rate has been shown to be elevated in a variety of systems where cell cultures or experimental animals were exposed to known mutagens and carcinogens. We suggest that the relationship carcinogen exposure-elevated SCE rate-cancer may also be valid in humans treated with arsenic.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001151:Arsenic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002842:Chromatids / Q000187:drug effects*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009153:Mutagens; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D001151:Arsenic