The Role of DNA Repair in Radiotherapy

摘要

With technical advances in our ability to screen large numbers of genes, an analysis of the expression of repair genes may be useful in predicting the radiation response of tumours and normal tissues. However, this is likely to involve the search for small changes or heterozygosity in critical genes, and the establishment of the relationship to repair pathway activity and radiation response is likely to be highly complex. Genetic radiosensitisation by inactivation of repair pathways is potentially exciting, though the integration of the sensitiser into a fractionated regimen will need very careful evaluation.