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Mutagenesis Advance Access originally published online on February 5, 2008
Mutagenesis 2008 23(3):183-190; doi:10.1093/mutage/gem054
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Potential use of the comet assay in the clinical management of cancer

Declan J. McKenna*, Stephanie R. McKeown and Valerie J. McKelvey-Martin

Cancer & Ageing Research Group, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK

The comet assay has been widely used to measure a range of cellular responses to DNA damage and has found applications in genotoxicity studies, bio-monitoring, ecological testing and in the study of human disease. This review discusses how the comet assay has been applied to the study of DNA damage and repair associated with cancer. The potential of the assay as a tool for predicting an individual's tumour sensitivity to radiation and to various chemotherapeutic drugs is examined, as well as outlining the usefulness of the assay in assessing oxidative stress within tumours. In addition, we review the use of the comet assay in investigations of the DNA-damaging effect of anti-neoplastic drugs and radiation used during cancer therapy. The advantages and limitations of the comet assay in carrying out all these studies are outlined, and the suitability of the comet assay for use in the clinical management of cancer is discussed.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +44 28 70323285; Fax: +44 28 70324375; Email: dj.mckenna{at}ulster.ac.uk

Received on October 30, 2007; revised on November 30, 2007; accepted on November 30, 2007.


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