Increased sister chromatid exchange frequencies in lymphocytes of nurses handling cytostatic drugs.

Abstract

NORPPA H, SORSA M, VAINIO H, GROHN P, HEINONEN E, HOLSTI LR, NORD-MAN E. Increased sister chroma tid exchange frequencies in lymphocytes of nurses handling cytostatic drugs. Scand j w01'k envi1'on health 6 (1980) 299-301. In oncology units, personnel handling chemotherapeutic drugs may occasionally be exposed to small amounts of genotoxic agents. This exposure was obviously the cause of the increased frequencies of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) observed in nurses in daily contact with cytostatics (N = 20, mean SCEs/cell ± SE 9.4 ± 0.3) as compared to a group of office workers (N = 10, mean SCEs/cell 8.1 ± 0.3). The oncology nurses also had a higher SCE frequency than other hospital nurses (N = 10, mean SOEs/cell 8.7 ± 0.2), but this difference was not statistically significant. The SCEs of patients under chemotherapy were about five times higher (mean SCEs/cell 36.8 ± 0.6) than those of healthy subjects.

Risk of spontaneous abortion among nurses handling antineoplastic drugs.

“…Other st ud ies ha ve demon strated that work preparing cyto static perfusion s can lead to an increase in the average number of sister chromatid excha nges and to an increa se in the frequ ency of chro mosome a no m a lies in lymphocytes (12)(13)(14). To our knowledge fo ur st udies provide some epidemiologic information on the relationship between cyto static exposure and reproductive hazards (15)(16)(17)(18).…”

Biological monitoring in the identification of the cancer of individuals exposed to chemical carcinogens.

“…The SCE frequency has been shown to be significantly higher in nurses who handle cytostatic drugs than in office personnel (44). Also persons who use organic solvents in laboratories have an increased SCE frequency 1 (18); the same applies to sterilization workers who handle ethylene oxide (34).…”

Antineoplastic Drugs as a Potential Risk Factor in Occupational Settings: Mechanisms of Action at the Cell Level, Genotoxic Effects, and Their Detection Using Different Biomarkers

“…Analiza SCE bila je prva citogenetička metoda primijenjena u biološkom nadzoru radnika izloženih antineoplastičnim lijekovima (44). U Hrvatskoj (58,67,69,72,78,79) to je donedavno bila i jedina metoda koja se izvodila kao dodatna pretraga u okviru zdravstvenih pregleda medicinskog osoblja izloženog antineoplasticima.…”