The Effect of Roentgen Radiation Upon the Reaction of the Fluid of Rat Sarcoma 10

Introduction Exposure of the body tissues to roentgen radiation results in injury to the cellular structure. Changes are also produced in the vascular system which may result in a diminished blood supply to the irradiated area with consequent effect upon the cell metabolism. In this paper we have attempted by an indirect method to obtain information concerning the chemical changes produced in malignant tissue as a result of the altered metabolism following irradiation. For this purpose we selected a transplantable rat sarcoma (No. 10) which is susceptible to roentgen treatment. This tumor grows rapidly and usually contains a large quantity of clear serous fluid. As the fluid is in intimate contact with the sarcomatous tissue, any change in the cell metabolism presumably would be reflected by a change in the reaction or chemical composition of the fluid. Technic Immediately after obtaining samples of the blood and tumor fluid for analysis, the tumors were irradiated. The animals were placed in such a position that the area irradiated included practically the whole of the tumor, with the body shielded as much as possible. The area of the tumors irradiated ranged from one-sixth to one-tenth of the total surface area. Radiation was done at 90 K. V. P., the voltage being measured with a sphere gap. The roentgen dosage was controlled with a Victoreen instrument calibrated for r 9s. All statements of r values are those for the area irradiated and include back-scattering from the surrounding tissues. Unfiltered radiation was used in all of the experiments reported in this paper.