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. 2013 Oct 1;2(5):442-448.
doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2218-676X.2013.10.03.

Molecular mechanisms involved in tumor repopulation after radiotherapy

Wooi-Loon Ng  1 , Qian Huang  1 , Xinjian Liu  1 , Mary Zimmerman  1 , Fang Li  1 , Chuan-Yuan Li  1
Affiliations

Molecular mechanisms involved in tumor repopulation after radiotherapy

Wooi-Loon Ng et al. Transl Cancer Res. .

Abstract

Radiotherapy remains one of most important treatment modalities for solid tumors. Current radiotherapy is mostly based on a set of concepts called the 4"R"s, which were established when there was lack of understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. However, progress made in the past two decades are beginning to allow us to see some of the molecular details involved in tumor response to radiation therapy. In this review, we will attempt to summarize some of the key discoveries in molecular radiation biology that have direct relevance to radiotherapy. We will focus our discussion on areas such as radiation induced tumor vasculogenesis, stem cell mobilization, and cellular repopulation. We hope our discussion will stimulate further studies in this important area of cancer research.

Keywords: 4“R”s; Radiation therapy; phoenix rising pathway; tumor repopulation; vasculogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Radiation induced HIF-1α stabilization through nitrosylation of C533 by macrophage derived nitric oxide (adapted from reference 25).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The “phoenix rising” pathway of cell death-mediated stimulation of tumor repopulation during cancer radiotherapy (adapted from reference 26).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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