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The role of promotion in carcinogenesis from protracted high-LET exposure
S B Curtis1, E G Luebeck, W D Hazelton
1Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Abstract:
Recent analysis of epidemiological studies using the two-stage clonal expansion (TSCE) model has shown that radiation-induced promotion dominates radiation-induced initiation for protracted exposures to radon. This strong promotion effect (i.e. enhanced proliferation of already-initiated cells) causes a pronounced 'inverse dose-rate effect', but by a mechanism completely different from those usually discussed in this connection. This rather startling result is discussed along with implications to extended space missions that include a significant amount of high-LET radiation. It is suggested that the effect might be caused by a 'Bystander Effect' by which normal cells in the vicinity of initiated cells are hit by alpha particles and send out signals that modify the cell kinetics of the already-initiated clones.
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