ULTRAVIOLET ABSORPTION IN EPIDERMOID CANCER CELLS.

The "excessive functional activity" of some cancer cells first found by Caspersson has been observed in fixed, stained smears of cervical epidermoid carcinomas from four patients. Preliminary results suggest that there may be a characteristic difference between the absorption profiles of some epidermoid cancer cells and other cells found in cytological smears. It is our belief that with an appropriate electronic scanning system such cells can be detected by measurements of their absorptions at two different wavelengths. However, the effect on the absorptions of cells with abnormalities other than cancer, and whether every epidermoid carcinoma will contain such cells, must yet be determined.