Evidence for intermittent radiobiological hypoxia in experimental tumour systems

This paper describes flow and static fluorescence cytometry techniques to visualize and quantitate acute radiobiological hypoxia resulting from transient fluctuation in tumour blood flow in experimental tumour systems. The application of these techniques in two murine tumour systems provides evidence that such hypoxia exists and reduces the effectiveness of single doses of radiation. Possible mechanisms for and implications of these findings are discussed.