Measurement of Radioactive Phosphorus in Breast Tumors in Situ; a Possible Diagnostic Procedure

Abstract

Radioactive phosphorus administered orally or intravenously in the form of disodium hydrogen phosphate solution is assimilated by different tissues in varying degrees. The concentration in tissues at any given time after administration depends on the metabolic activity of constituent cells. In general, malignant growths have a higher metabolic rate than the tissues from which they originate, and regenerating tissues also show greater metabolic activity than normal tissues. In both types of growth, therefore, a greater amount of phosphorus is taken up for the new cells that are forming. The differential distribution can be determined quantitatively by measuring the radioactivity of ashed samples of the tissues by means of a beta-ray electroscope, an electrometer, or by a Geiger-Muller counter. Such a determination necessitates the removal of the tissues in part or in whole. If a lesion is located in the skin or close beneath the skin, the beta rays emanating from the disintegrating phosphorus atoms localiz...