Cytological and quantitative cytochemical studies of post-radiation dysplasia

A total of 60 vaginal smears from 19 women treated with ionizing radiation for malignancies of the genital tract in the past seven years in the Division of Radiation Therapy of Emory University School of Medicine were studied for the presence of post-radiation dysplasia (PRD) by means of Feulgen cytospectrophotometry and cytological analysis. PRD was diagnosed on the basis of the presence of dysplastic cytological changes, absence of clinically detectable lesions, and presence of aneuploid DNA values in the dysplastic cells. PRD was detected in 21% of the studied cases. Uniform criteria for PRD, describing premalignant and malignant post-radiation lesions, diagnosed on the basis of aneuploid DNA values, as well as cytological observations is suggested.