Abstract
The role of the initial DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) as a determinant of cellular radiosensitivity was studied in human breast and bladder cancer cell lines. Cell survival was measured by monolayer colony-forming assay as appropriate and differences in radiosensitivity were seen (alpha-values ranged from 0.12 to 0.54). After pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) the initial slopes of dose-response curves were biphasic with a flattening of the curves above 30 Gy. When the frequency of DNA dsb induction was assessed using a mathematical model based on the DNA fragment size distribution into the gel lane, we found a statistically significant relationship between the number of DNA dsb induced and the corresponding alpha-values and fraction surviving after 2Gy (P = 0.0049 and P = 0.0031 respectively). These results support the view that initial damage is a major determinant of cell radiosensitivity.
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Ruiz de Almodóvar, J., Núñez, M., McMillan, T. et al. Initial radiation-induced DNA damage in human tumour cell lines: a correlation with intrinsic cellular radiosensitivity. Br J Cancer 69, 457–462 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1994.83
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1994.83
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