The question of an alleged reduction of cell cycle time in [human] psoriasis is examined. The fraction of cells in mitosis and in DNA synthesis, as portrayed by the uptake of 3H-thymidine, is increased in psoriatic as compared with normal epidermis. However, increased proliferative activity does not prove that psoriatic cells are dividing faster and that cell cycle time is reduced in psoriasis. The fraction-of-labeled-mitoses (FLM) technique, which involves taking biopsies of epidermis over a short period of time after intradermal injection of 3H-thymidine, is criticized as not really measuring cell cycle time. Further problems, including age distribution of normal epidermal cells, the possibility of cell synchrony and the distribution of individual cell cycle times, are considered.