BackgroundThe question of an age dependence of individual radiosensitivity has only marginally been studied so far. Therefore, we analyzed blood samples of healthy individuals and cancer patients of different ages to determine individual radiosensitivity.MethodsEx vivo irradiated blood samples of 595 individuals were tested. Chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 were stained by 3-color fluorescence in situ hybridization and aberrations were analyzed. Radiosensitivity was determined by the mean breaks per metaphase (B/M).ResultsHealthy individuals (mean age 50.7 years) had an average B/M value of 0.42 ± 0.104 and an increase of 0.0014B/M per year. The patients (mean age 60.4 years) had an average B/M value of 0.44 ± 0.150 and radiosensitivity did not change with age. In previous studies we found that from a value of 0.6B/M on an individual is considered to be distinctly radiosensitive. The portion of radiosensitive individuals (B/M > 0.6) increased in both cohorts with age.ConclusionIndividual radiosensitivity rises continuously with age, yet with strong interindividual variation. No age related increase of radiosensitivity can be demonstrated in patients due to the strong interindividual variation. However among old cancer patients there is a higher probability to have patients with clearly increased radiosensitivity than at younger age.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-018-0799-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background: It is well known that radiosensitivity varies substantially from individual to individual. This may influence the tumor response and also cause side effects in normal tissues following the radiotherapy treatment for cancers. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the sensitivity of a lung cancer cohort to see whether patients display similar radiosensitivity distribution as compared to healthy individuals. Methods: Blood samples of healthy individuals (n = 244) and a small group of lung cancer patients (n= 38) were irradiated ex vivo and chromosomes # 1, 2 and 4 were analyzed by the 3-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. Additionally, the data from 400 individuals from previously published studies were also analyzed, which included a healthy cohort as well as rectal cancer patients. Chromosomal aberrations were counted and expressed as breaks per metaphase (B/M). The chromosomal aberrations in the control sample (background) were subtracted to obtain only the radiation-induced aberrations. Results: The lung cancer cohort had significantly increased background B/M values (p<0.001). Increased radiosensitivity was stated if the B/M value exceeded 0.55. The percentage of individuals with increased radiosensitivity was slightly higher in the patient groups compared to that in healthy individuals. Conclusions: Individualizing treatment by adjusting the radiation dose can help in reducing side effects, as cancer patients have a broader range of individual radiosensitivity.
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