Micronuclei And G2 Assays For Assessment Of Chromosomal Radiosensitivity As Assistant Tool In Radiotherapy: Method-Comparison Study

Abstract

Radiation therapy is widely used for cancer treatment. Medical application of ionizing radiation can cause different responses in human depending on individual radiosensitivity. Therefore, assessment of individual radiosensitivity could be proposed as assistant tool in optimizing radiotherapy. The cytokinesis- block micronucleus and G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity assays were proposed as appropriate methods for assessment of individual radiosensitivity. In current study we carried out a pilot cytokinesis-block micronucleus and G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity assays comparison by evaluating specificity of chromatid breaks yield and micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes as biomarkers of individual radiosensitivity in three cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. Our study revealed positive correlation between higher increase in frequency of micronuclei and chromatid breaks after in vitro irradiation in radiotherapy patients peripheral blood lymphocytes with occurrence of adverse radiation effects in tissue which are not being targeted. G2 assay appeared to be more sensitive than micronuclei assay for assessment of irradiation-induced alterations in individual radiosensitivity during the radiotherapy that could affect development of treatment side effects. Therefore, further investigations involving more radiotherapy patients as well as healthy donors are required to select the most sensitive method and reveal the possible correlation between individual radiosensitivity and adverse effect of radiotherapy.