Invisible Player: Radiation from Cancer Risk to therapies
FIRST YEAR MEDTEC SCHOOL, A.A. 2025/2026
CELL BIOLOGY, HISTOLOGY AND EMBRIOLOGY COURSE
Types of Radiation:
1. Non-Ionising: Ex. ultraviolet (UV) light, microwaves, radio waves, and visible light 2. Ionising: a) Directly Ionising: Charged Particles - Alpha particles: low penetration, stopped by outer layers of skin - Beta particles: penetrate a few centimeters into tissue - Protons: finite, highly controllable range b) Indirectly Ionising: Neutral Particles/Photons - X-rays and Gamma rays: deep penetration capabilities
Dangers of Radiation: The Case of Clarence Dally
Who? Unshielded X-Ray Exposure -> Acute Radiation Dermatitis -> Squamous Cell Carcinoma -> Metastasis Why is it important?
IONIZING RADIATION
- X - Ray
- Single and double strand breaks of DNA and RNA
- Radiolysis of water and ROS
- Clustered lesions and oxidative base modifications (8-oxoG)
- DNA repair, apoptosis or malignant transformations
NON IONIZING RADIATION
- UV radiation
- Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs)
- Nucleotide excision repair (NER)
- C→T mutations and inherited defects in repair systems
- Eccessive exposure greatly increase skin cancer risk
We could have different effects in gene expression:
Mutations in p53 tumor suppressor pathway and p16 cell cycle regulation pathway,
Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway in BCC, RAS oncogene activation
Release of immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10, TNF-α, and IL-1α.
Radiation-Induced Tumor Progression: A Histological Perspective
Lentigo maligna
RADIATION AND EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT
1.
RESISTANT PERIOD
2.
MAX. SUSCEPTABILITY PERIOD
3.
LOW SUSCEPTABILITY PERIOD
The developmental stages can be divided in:
25+
EFFECT OF RADIATIONS ON THE EMBRYO
STOCHASTIC
DETERMINISTIC
Stochastic effects are long term effects, resulting from damaged or incorrectly repaired DNA in a cell.
Deterministic effects are health effects caused from death or malfunction of a large population of cells
examples of deterministic effects are:
One main example of stochastic effect is the increase in childhood cancer
->anophtalamia->microphtalamia
- Loss of neural progenitors -> microcephaly
a medical paradox
The same physical agent capable of inducing carcinogenesis can also be used to treat cancer.
from radiation damage
to radiotherapy
DNA damage
Targeted irradiation
- Bragg peak
- high dose conformity
- reduced exit dose
- tissue sparing
DNA damage in cancer cells, especially vulnerable because of rapid proliferation, genomic instability and defective repair mechanisms
ROS production
uncontrolled exposure
controlled exposure
Mutations
Effects also on healthy tissue
Therapeutic ratio: maximize tumor control minimize normal tissue toxicity
Genomic instability
Carcinogenesis
Evolution of the Therapeutic Ratio
tumor control vs normal tissue toxicity
2) Electrons
1) Photons
- superficial lesions
- rapid dose fall-off
- tissue sparing
- penumbra
- deep tumors
- high versatility
- exit dose: healthy tissue
exposure
4) Protons
3) Brachytherapy
- Bragg peak
- high dose conformity
- reduced exit dose
- tissue sparing
Current challenges
- organ motion
- tissue variability
- range uncertainty
- biological uncertainty
- iridium-192 isotopes
- local dose escalation
- steep dose gradient
- cosmetic preservation
Interview with Enrico Pozzo, researcher and head of the Proton Centre in Humanitas
Humanitas Proton Building
- integrated proton center
- multidisciplinary oncology
- clinical trials
- advanced imaging
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
HISTOLOGY: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2564815/ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Comparison-of-melanoma-in-situ-lentigo-maligna-type-A-and-pigmented-actinic_fig5_51470771 TECH DROP: https://www.humanitas.it/news/proton-building-la-casa-delle-cure-oncologiche/
Salem PP, Chami P, Daou R, Hajj J, Lin H, Chhabra AM, Simone CB 2nd, Lee NY, Hajj C. Proton Radiation Therapy: A Systematic Review of Treatment-Related Side Effects and Toxicities. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 11;25(20):10969. doi: 10.3390/ijms252010969. PMID: 39456752; PMCID: PMC11506991.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1278321824001409?via%3Dihub
REFERENCES: EMBRIOLOGY: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564358/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2643529/ CELL BIOLOGY: https://storage.imrpress.com/imr/journal/FBL/article/493471/1752770882342.pdf
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8477449/#Sec6
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024001211#s0015
https://genome.cshlp.org/content/13/9/2092
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4064600/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8477449/
Manasvita Basa, Ida Cassini, Simone Fumarola, Eleonora Reginelli, Samuele JunSeob Shin, Sara Valcarenghi
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Invisible Player: Radiation from Cancer Risk to therapies
Eleonora Reginelli
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Transcript
Invisible Player: Radiation from Cancer Risk to therapies
FIRST YEAR MEDTEC SCHOOL, A.A. 2025/2026
CELL BIOLOGY, HISTOLOGY AND EMBRIOLOGY COURSE
Types of Radiation:
1. Non-Ionising: Ex. ultraviolet (UV) light, microwaves, radio waves, and visible light 2. Ionising: a) Directly Ionising: Charged Particles - Alpha particles: low penetration, stopped by outer layers of skin - Beta particles: penetrate a few centimeters into tissue - Protons: finite, highly controllable range b) Indirectly Ionising: Neutral Particles/Photons - X-rays and Gamma rays: deep penetration capabilities
Dangers of Radiation: The Case of Clarence Dally
Who? Unshielded X-Ray Exposure -> Acute Radiation Dermatitis -> Squamous Cell Carcinoma -> Metastasis Why is it important?
IONIZING RADIATION
NON IONIZING RADIATION
We could have different effects in gene expression:
Mutations in p53 tumor suppressor pathway and p16 cell cycle regulation pathway,
Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway in BCC, RAS oncogene activation
Release of immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10, TNF-α, and IL-1α.
Radiation-Induced Tumor Progression: A Histological Perspective
Lentigo maligna
RADIATION AND EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT
1.
RESISTANT PERIOD
2.
MAX. SUSCEPTABILITY PERIOD
3.
LOW SUSCEPTABILITY PERIOD
The developmental stages can be divided in:
25+
EFFECT OF RADIATIONS ON THE EMBRYO
STOCHASTIC
DETERMINISTIC
Stochastic effects are long term effects, resulting from damaged or incorrectly repaired DNA in a cell.
Deterministic effects are health effects caused from death or malfunction of a large population of cells
examples of deterministic effects are:
One main example of stochastic effect is the increase in childhood cancer
- Structural malformations
->anophtalamia->microphtalamiaa medical paradox
The same physical agent capable of inducing carcinogenesis can also be used to treat cancer.
from radiation damage
to radiotherapy
DNA damage
Targeted irradiation
DNA damage in cancer cells, especially vulnerable because of rapid proliferation, genomic instability and defective repair mechanisms
ROS production
uncontrolled exposure
controlled exposure
Mutations
Effects also on healthy tissue
Therapeutic ratio: maximize tumor control minimize normal tissue toxicity
Genomic instability
Carcinogenesis
Evolution of the Therapeutic Ratio
tumor control vs normal tissue toxicity
2) Electrons
1) Photons
- deep tumors
- high versatility
- exit dose: healthy tissue
exposure4) Protons
3) Brachytherapy
- Bragg peak
- high dose conformity
- reduced exit dose
- tissue sparing
Current challengesInterview with Enrico Pozzo, researcher and head of the Proton Centre in Humanitas
Humanitas Proton Building
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
HISTOLOGY: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2564815/ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Comparison-of-melanoma-in-situ-lentigo-maligna-type-A-and-pigmented-actinic_fig5_51470771 TECH DROP: https://www.humanitas.it/news/proton-building-la-casa-delle-cure-oncologiche/ Salem PP, Chami P, Daou R, Hajj J, Lin H, Chhabra AM, Simone CB 2nd, Lee NY, Hajj C. Proton Radiation Therapy: A Systematic Review of Treatment-Related Side Effects and Toxicities. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 11;25(20):10969. doi: 10.3390/ijms252010969. PMID: 39456752; PMCID: PMC11506991. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1278321824001409?via%3Dihub
REFERENCES: EMBRIOLOGY: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564358/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2643529/ CELL BIOLOGY: https://storage.imrpress.com/imr/journal/FBL/article/493471/1752770882342.pdf https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8477449/#Sec6 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024001211#s0015 https://genome.cshlp.org/content/13/9/2092 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4064600/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8477449/
Manasvita Basa, Ida Cassini, Simone Fumarola, Eleonora Reginelli, Samuele JunSeob Shin, Sara Valcarenghi
Your content is appreciated, but it only engages if it's interactive. Capture your audience's attention with an interactive photo or illustration.
Your content is liked, but only engages if it's interactive. Capture your audience's attention with an interactive photograph or illustration.