Stathmokinetic measurement of tumour cell proliferation in relation to vascular proximity

In this study the metaphase-arrest method with vincristine (VCR) was used, in a transplanted C3H mouse mammary tumour, to study cell proliferation relative to distance from a blood vessel. The metaphase-arrest method has a number of advantages over methods involving [3H]TdR labelling for such a study. The cell birth rate (kB) was shown to be inversely related to distance from a capillary in corded areas of tumour. Penetration of VCR, even into perinecrotic areas of tumour, appeared to be sufficient to achieve effective metaphase arrest.