Abstract

Toxic side effects of radiotherapy are largely determined by massive apoptosis in the haematopoietic system and/or gastrointestinal tract, thus limiting the dose a patient can receive. Borrowing from the pathways that are mutated in tumour cells to suppress apoptosis, Gudkov, Feinstein and colleagues have made a promising step forward in the hunt for radioprotective agents that could increase the dose — and hopefully the success rate — of radiotherapy.