Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
Enhanced mutation and neoplastic transformation in human cells by 29 kVp relative to 200 kVp X rays indicating a
D Frankenberg1, K Kelnhofer, I Garg
1Department of Clinical Radiobiology and Clinical Radiation Physics, University of Goettingen, von-Siebold Str. 3, D-37075, Goettingen, Germany. dfrank@med.uni-goettingen.de
Abstract:
The fundamental assumption implicit in the use of the atomic bomb survivor data to derive risk estimates for occupational and medical exposures is that the gamma rays of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are considered as equal efficiencies to other low LET radiations up to an LET of 10 keV.micron-1. For breast cancer induction, neoplastic cell transformation, mutation, reciprocal translocations and dicentrics in human lymphocytes, a strong and very similar dependence of the RBE values on photon energy or on LET is observed. Experimental data on mutation induction and neoplastic cell transformation in human cells show that 29 kVp X rays are by a factor of 4 and 3.4, respectively, more effective compared with 200 kVp X rays. These data are in excellent agreement with the data in the literature.
Related Concept Videos
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Biological Effects of Radiation
Mutations
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...
Mismatch Repair
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
X-ray Imaging

