Fractionation sensitivity of the rat cervical spinal cord during radiation retreatment

Data concerning the fractionation sensitivity of normal tissues during radiation retreatment are limited. Experiments were performed to investigate whether the fractionation sensitivity of the rat cervical spinal cord is changed during retreatment 6 months after a first dose of 15 Gy, representing about half the biologically effective dose for induction of paresis. After a 6 months interval, the long-term recovery from the first treatment was about 45%. The fractionation sensitivity of the rat cervical spinal cord during reirradiation was not significantly different from the fractionation sensitivity of not previously irradiated control rats, with an alpha/beta ratio of 2.3 Gy in control rats and 1.9 Gy during reirradiation of the spinal cord. An additional observation from these experiments was the presence of incomplete repair after fractionated treatment with 2 fractions of 3 Gy per day with 10-h intervals.