The growth kinetics and the in vivo radiosensitivity of two human small cell carcinomas of the lung (SCCL) grown in nude mice were investigated. The tumors, CPH SCCL 54A and 54B, were derived by in vitro cloning of a single SCCL and were subsequently serially grown in nude mice. The growth curves were described according to a transformed Gompertz function, and the cell kinetics were examined by flow cytometric DNA analysis (FCM) and by the technique of labelled mitoses. The effect of single-dose irradiation was estimated by the specific growth delay calculated from the growth curves, and by the cell cycle distribution changes monitored by FCM. The results showed that the tumors differed in the in vivo radiosensitivity despite similarities in the growth kinetics. The results support the concept that difference in sensitivity among tumor subpopulations is an important reason for therapeutic failures.