Affiliation:
1. Department of Radiation Oncology and Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiooncology, Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Medical University Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Abstract
Tissue effects of radiation exposure are observed in virtually all normal tissues, with interactions when several organs are involved. Early reactions occur in turnover tissues, where proliferative impairment results in hypoplasia; late reactions, based on combined parenchymal, vascular, and connective tissue changes, result in loss of function within the exposed volume; consequential late effects develop through interactions between early and late effects in the same organ; and very late effects are dominated by vascular sequelae. Invariably, involvement of the immune system is observed. Importantly, latent times of late effects are inversely dependent on the biologically equieffective dose. Each tissue component and – importantly – each individual symptom/endpoint displays a specific dose–effect relationship. Equieffective doses are modulated by exposure conditions: in particular, dose-rate reduction – down to chronic levels – and dose fractionation impact on late responding tissues, while overall exposure time predominantly affects early (and consequential late) reactions. Consequences of partial organ exposure are related to tissue architecture. In ‘tubular’ organs (gastrointestinal tract, but also vasculature), punctual exposure affects function in downstream compartments. In ‘parallel’ organs, such as liver or lungs, only exposure of a significant (organ-dependent) fraction of the total volume results in clinical consequences. Forthcoming studies must address biomarkers of the individual risk for tissue reactions, and strategies to prevent/mitigate tissue effects after exposure.
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging,Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
Cited by
53 articles.
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