Fluorescence-histochemical and electron-microscopical investigations in melanoma patients after isolated cytostatic...

The effect of isolated cytostatic perfusion was determined in in-transit metastases from malignant melanomas at various times after therapy. Fluorescence-microscopically positive tumor cells (formalin-induced fluorescence) were regarded as viable and possibly capable of dividing. Most of the metastases examined showed fluorescent cells even after perfusion, and these were often found at characteristic sites within the metastases. Under the electron microscope, the cell damage was seen mainly in the nucleus, but also in the organelles of the cytoplasm. The source of cell damage might be multifactorial, and the cytostatic effect could not be clearly separated from the effect of hyperthermia or hypoxia.