Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Radiosensitivity of Cancer Stem Cells in Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: August 21, 2019
The intrinsic radiosensitivity of normal and tumour cells
C M West1, S E Davidson, S A Elyan
1CRC Sections of Genome Damage and Repair, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester, UK.
Purpose:
To examine whether in vitro measurements of normal and tumour cell radiosensitivity can be used as prognostic factors in clinical oncology.
Materials And Methods:
Stage I-III cervix carcinoma patients were treated with radical radiotherapy with a minimum of 3 years' follow-up. Lymphocyte and tumour radiosensitivities were assayed using, respectively, a limiting dilution and soft agar clonogenic assay to obtain surviving fraction at 2 Gy (SF2). The results were related, in an actuarial analysis, to late morbidity assessed using the Franco Italian glossary.
Results:
Patients with radiosensitive lymphocytes had a significantly increased risk of developing late complications (n = 93, p = 0.002). Increasing tumour radiosensitivity was associated with an increased risk of morbidity (n= 113, p=0.032). A significant correlation was found between fibroblast and tumour cell radiosensitivity (r=0.57, p=0.03), but a weak inverse association was found between lymphocyte and tumour cell radiosensitivity (r= -0.32, p=0.03). Patients with radiosensitive lymphocytes and tumour cells had higher levels of late complications than those whose cells were radioresistant.
Conclusion:
The work described highlights the importance of cellular radiosensitivity as a parameter determining the clinical response to radiotherapy.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
Other Unique Bacteria

