Analysis of cell-cell interactions by radiation-induced cohort effects in radiotherapy

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K16782
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 52040:Radiological sciences-related
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University
• Principal Investigator: TERASHIMA Shingo 弘前大学, 保健学研究科, 助教 (00583733)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: コホート効果 / 非標的効果 / 放射線治療 / 共培養

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A non-targeted effect called radiation-induced cohort effect has been reported in which cell communication between irradiated neighboring cells leads to interaction. In this study, we generated cell populations irradiated with different doses of X-rays to evaluate the impact of radiation-induced cohort effects in radiotherapy. Experiments showed that exposure of neighboring cells to X-rays increased the relative proliferation rate. These results suggest that reducing the dose to cells adjacent to tumor cells does not adversely affect the efficacy of radiotherapy. The results also suggest that the radiation-induced cohort effect is related to humoral factors. These results may contribute to the analysis of the biological dose distribution of radiotherapy.

Free Research Field

放射線治療

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

高精度放射線治療では高い位置精度が担保されており、腫瘍及び隣接する正常組織に対して従来手法より急激な線量変化が起こっている。また、標的腫瘍内で線量の強弱を作成可能なSimultaneous Integrated Boostでは、急峻な線量分布が形成される。しかしながら、このような状況で照射された隣接する細胞同士が及ぼす生物学的な影響評価はほとんど行われていない。研究結果は、細胞のダメージが物理線量だけでなく、線量の分布からも影響を受けることを示してる。隣接する細胞の線量の低下が腫瘍細胞に悪影響を及ぼさないことが明らかになった。これらの結果は、放射線治療の生物学的な線量分布解析に貢献できる。