Studies with cultured mammalian cells demonstrated clearly that radiation can transform cells directly and can enhance the cell transformation by oncogenic DNA viruses. In general, high-LET heavy-ion radiation can be more effective than X and gamma rays in inducing neoplastic cell transformation. Various experimental results indicate that radiation-induced DNA damage, most likely double-strand breaks, is important for both the initiation of cell transformation and for the enhancement of viral transformation. Some of the transformation and enhancement lesions can be repaired properly in the cell, and the amount of irrepairable lesions produced by a given dose depends on the quality of radiation. An inhibition of repair processes with chemical agents can increase the transformation frequency of cells exposed to radiation and/or oncogenic viruses, suggesting that repair mechanisms may play an important role in the radiation transformation. The progression of radiation-transformed cells appears to be a long and complicated process that can be modulated by some nonmutagenic chemical agents, e.g., DMSO. Normal cells can inhibit the expression of transforming properties of tumorigenic cells through an as yet unknown mechanism. The progression and expression of transformation may involve some epigenetic changes in the irradiated cells. 38 references, 15 figures, 1 table.