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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Author Spotlight: Radiotherapy and Clonogenic Assays for Advancing Cancer Research and Personalized Medicine
Published on: April 5, 2024
Radiotherapy modulates tumor cell fate decisions: a review
Haoran Chen1, Zhongyu Han1,2, Qian Luo1
1Chengdu Xinhua Hospital, Chengdu, China.
Abstract:
Cancer has always been a worldwide problem, and the application of radiotherapy has greatly improved the survival rate of cancer patients. Radiotherapy can modulate multiple cell fate decisions to kill tumor cells and achieve its therapeutic effect. With the development of radiotherapy technology, how to increase the killing effect of tumor cells and reduce the side effects on normal cells has become a new problem. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms by which radiotherapy induces tumor cell apoptosis, necrosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy, senescence, mitotic catastrophe, and cuproptosis. An in-depth understanding of these radiotherapy-related cell fate decisions can greatly improve the efficiency of radiotherapy for cancer.
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