Radiosensitivity of blood lymphocytes from basocellular carcinoma patients, as detected by the micronucleus assay

Cytogenetic techniques, the micronucleus (MN) assay, in particular, have been widely used in population monitoring, biological dosimetry and early detection of groups susceptible to cancer. Individuals respond differently to several environmental agents. The efficiency of the cellular repair mechanisms would be responsible, at least to some extent, for individual differences in sensitivity to neoplasia. In order to determine the sensitivity of cancer patients to ionizing radiation, blood cultures from untreated individuals with basocellular carcinoma, young healthy subjects and older healthy subjects, were irradiated in vitro with 60Co at doses ranging from 0 to 500 cGy and submitted to the cyto-B micronucleus assay; the frequency of cells and distribution of MN and dose-response relationships were analyzed. Results showed that cancer patients had a lower frequency of cells with spontaneous MN than older healthy subjects. The frequency of micronucleated cells was not different in patients and healthy subjects, but not the distribution of MN per radiation dose: for the carcinoma group, while the proportion of cells with one MN decreases drastically, the proportion of the cells with two or more MN increases with the same intensity. Our results show that the proportion of damaged cells is similar in patients with basocellular carcinoma and healthy subjects, but the magnitude of radiation-induced lesion is greater in the cancer patients.