Wound drainage fluid from 23 patients who had undergone curative radical resections for cancers of the head and neck region were collected over a 72-hour postoperative period. Five of these patients had wound-drainage fluid containing tumor cells. By radioautography of in vitro incorporated tritiated thymidine, tumor cells in 2 of these specimens were found to be synthesizing DNA. The demonstration of labeling these cells offers additional evidence of the viability of some of the tumor cells which can be found in wound-drainage fluid following curative resections.
UMOR CFLLS CAN BE FOUND IN THE POST-
T operative wound drainage as late as 72 hours following excisional surgery of the curative type.43Gli Designation of viability of these cells have been mainly subjective based upon cytologic interpretation. Cells with satisfactory preservation of nuclear detail, however, are not necessarily viable at the time of fixati0n.l
T h e present study was carried out to determine if viability of any tumor cells found in the postoperative wound-drainage fluid from patients who had undergone radical head and neck surgery could be demonstrated by incorporation of tritiated thyniidine during short term in vitro incubation.
Methods
Wound drainage from 23 patients who had undergone curative radical resections for cancers of the head and neck region were collected in 24-hour samples over a 72-hour postoperative period. T h e samples were collected in a trap jar in a small bedside refrigerator containing 50 mg of heparin in 100 cc of