Sister chromatid exchange rate from pleural fluid cells in patients with malignant mesothelioma

This study assessed the impact of malignant mesothelioma on the frequencies of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in the pleural effusion cells. Ten pati ents with mesothelioma and 20 control subjects were included in the study. The control subjects were the patients with tuberculosis pleurisy, and the remaining 10 subjects of control group were healthy volunteers and only hep arinized blood samples were collected from these subjects, The pleural effu sion cells were cultured with conventional culture methods. The samples wer e obtained from the patients after histopathologic confirmation of the mali gnancy but before the initiation of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. At the en d of the culture period and 48 h prior the harvesting, BrdU was added into flasks. Totally, 100 metaphases were scored for each sample. In this study, we found that the SCE frequencies of malignant pleural mesotheliomas were significantly higher than the control subjects (P < 0.001). Six of 10 patie nts came from central Anatolia, which is of great importance due to high ra te of exposure to asbestosis in this region. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.