[Current status and perspectives of using radioprotectors in clinical practice]

In this contribution an attempt is made to look at the theoretical aspects of effects of radioprotectors. Experimental and clinical data were presented. Sulfhydryl compounds are the most effective radioprotectors known nowadays, but there are two main problems of its using. The first one is their toxicity and the second--short-ranged activity. The unique radioprotector widely used in clinic on application of cytostatic therapy is amifostine. Many clinical trials have shown amifostine first of all to be useful in managing xerostomia in patients with head and neck tumors after receiving polychemotherapy. Low-to-moderate doses of some agents such as nitroxides, adrenoceptor agonist etc were found to have radioprotective activity in experiments but their application in clinic remains doubtful.