Fig. 1

Micronuclei (MN) and nucleoplasmatic bridges (NPB) counted in binucleated lymphocytes (BNL) of rectal cancer patients. Yields after 50.4 Gy of radiochemotherapy (RCT) plotted against the yields after 3 Gy of in-vitro irradiation (a, b). A highly significant consistency was found between the effects of clinical RCT and the experimental in-vitro irradiation for individual patients (τ = 0.235, p = 0.00014) and (τ = 0.308, p = 7.15e-07) for MN (a) and NPB (b), respectively. The yields increased during RCT and decreased thereafter, and are still increased 2 years after RCT. Box plots for MN (c) and NPB (d). Patients had significant interindividual differences after RCT and after 3 Gy of in-vitro irradiation (c, d). *indicates significant differences (p < 0.05 with respect to baseline data)