Experimental tumors growing in irradiated tissue have been used to study the biological differences characteristic of locally recurrent tumors. Animal tumors were early generation isotransplants of a spontaneous fibrosarcoma in a C3Hf/Sed mouse, designated FSa-II. Since the hypoxic cell fraction of tumors growing in irradiated tissue is increased, these tumors are assumed to be metabolically deprived with hypoperfusion and acidosis. In this study we directly measured the oxygen partial pressure (pO2) distribution, metabolic state, and pH of tumors growing in an irradiated tumor bed using oxygen sensitive electrodes and 31P-NMR. The results confirmed a three-fold increase in the number of pO2 readings less than or equal to 2.5 mmHg and also showed increased acidosis with a 0.17 unit decrease in pHNMR. When tumors growing in pre-irradiated tissue reached approximately 100 mm3 in volume, a high frequency of gross and microscopic necrosis and hemorrhage was already observed. Consistent with these observations, the phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate (PCr/Pi) and nucleoside triphosphate/inorganic phosphate (NTP/Pi) ratios were significantly lower in the tumors in a pre-irradiated bed compared to tumors in a non-irradiated bed (PCr/Pi: 0.51 vs 0.79, p less than 0.05; and NTP/Pi: 0.64 vs 0.93, p less than 0.05). The longitudinal relaxation time (T1) of Pi was numerically shorter in control tumors (consistent with the better tissue oxygenation), but this did not reach statistical significance (2.09 +/- .11 sec vs 2.25 +/- .16 sec).