Studies on radiosensitization and underlying mechanisms of gimeracil

• Project/Area Number: 21591605
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Radiation science
• Research Institution: Iwate Medical University (2011); Tohoku University (2009-2010)
• Principal Investigator: ARIGA Hisanori 岩手医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (30333818)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): JINGU Keiichi 東北大学, 大学院・放射線腫瘍学講座, 教授 (00451592) ; NAKATA Eiko 東北大学, 保健学専攻, 助教 (60375201)
• Project Period (FY): 2009 – 2011
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2011)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000); Fiscal Year 2011: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 放射線 / X線 / 癌 / 放射線治療 / 放射線増感剤 / 放射線、X線

Research Abstract

Gimeracil has been used clinically as a competitive inhibitor of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, which degrades drugs in the blood. We found that gimeracil had a radiosensitizing effect and that the sensitizing activity was different between cancer cells and normal tissues, and even between cancer cell lines. One of the mechanisms of radiosensitization may be inhibition of DNA repair process, especially homologous recombination, which is used predominantly in replicating cells after ionizing radiation. Currently we are preparing an investigator initiated phase I clinical trial on gimeracil in cooperation with the translational research center of Tohoku university hospital.