Micronucleus assay for predicting side effects of radiotherapy for cervical cancer

Radiotherapy (RT) is an important treatment for cervical cancer. The quality of life of patients undergoing RT may be compromised during and following treatment by nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, burns, erythema and fistula. Cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assays may be useful for predicting adverse effects of RT for cancer. The CBMN test is easy to perform and is reproducible for screening subjects exposed to ionizing radiation. We investigated the use of the frequency of micronuclei (MN) from peripheral blood samples, irradiated in vitro, as a possible biomarker to predict the side effects of RT in patients with cervical cancer. We used 10 patients with cervical cancer receiving RT and chemotherapy. We found a strong relation between the frequency of MN and the appearance of acute side effects of RT for cervical cancer. We suggest that the methodology presented here may be useful for predicting side effects of RT for patients affected by cervical cancer and who have undergone chemotherapy.