Our simulations suggested that measurements performed in a limited number of points in the tumour can be representative for the situation in the whole tumour. It has further been shown that the polarographic electrode cannot be used to measure small regions of hypoxia. In fact it has been suggested that the most important factor that determines the efficiency of the polarographic electrode is the spatial distribution of the hypoxic cells and not their type, and therefore the polarographic electrode cannot be used to make the distinction between acute and chronic hypoxia. The simulations have also shown that it is reasonable to assume that the electrode measurement can be correlated to the situation in the whole tissue, even though the correlation is only qualitative. And because the electrode measurements are greatly influenced by the averaging process, the quantitative use of the electrode measurements may lead to erroneous results, especially for modelling the treatment response.