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Updated: Aug 21, 2026
Radiosensitivity of Cancer Stem Cells in Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: August 21, 2019
Selenium influences the radiation sensitivity of C6 rat glioma cells
Patrick Schueller1, Sylvia Puettmann, Oliver Micke
1Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Muenster, Germany. pschuel@uni-muenster.de
Background:
A radioprotective effect of low selenium doses on normal tissue and a possible radiosensitization of tumor cells at higher concentrations have been previously suggested. However, systematic experimental and clinical data are scarce.
Materials And Methods:
C6 cells were cultured for 14 days at different selenite concentrations (0 microM, 2 microM, 3 microM and 3.6 microM) and irradiated with 0 Gy to 20 Gy. Plating efficiency and survival were determined using the colony assay.
Results:
The overall radiosensitivity was low (D0,control=6.1 Gy). Irradiated cells exposed to increasing selenite concentrations showed a lower plating efficiency and, for doses > 2 Gy, a lower survival than the control. For Se concentrations of 0 microM, 2 microM and 3 microM, respectively, SF2 amounted to 0.72, 0.48 and 0.46, and SF5 to 0.37, 0.25 and 0.12. Student's t-test yielded a significant difference between the 0 microM and 3 microM curves at 5 Gy (p=0.02) and 10 Gy (p=0.009).
Conclusion:
Our experiments suggest a radiosensitizing effect of selenite in glioma cells at concentrations of 2-3 microM.
