The kinetics of cellular proliferation in normal and malignant tissues. V. Analysis of labeling indices and potential tissue doubling times in human tumor cell populations.

Abstract

AbstractThe metabolic activities of proliferating human tissues which concern nucleic acid synthesis and the cell cycle are being examined by high resolution autoradiography following the incorporation of labeled nucleic acid precursors. The relationships of the kinetics of cellular proliferation are investigated using a method whereby surgical biopsy specimens are labeled with nucleic acid precursors in vitro, but under conditions in which the incorporation of the label occurs only in the cells which were synthesizing DNA and RNA in the patient, thereby providing a pattern of labeling similar to that obtained by in vivo methods. The tissue turnover rates, potential doubling times, and the temporal patterns of DNA and RNA synthesis in relation to the cell cycle of proliferating cell populations are determined by appropriate techniques using 3H‐ and 14C‐labeled thymidine and uridine. Quantitative information on cell population kinetics in normal, inflammatory, and neoplastic tissues of the larynx from over 160 patients is presented, and the experimental data are discussed in terms of relationships of cell cycle times, proliferative capacities, and growth rates of human cell populations in vivo.