The comparison of transforming growth factor beta-1 serum levels in early-stage breast cancer patients treated with external beam whole breast irradiation plus boost versus interstitial brachytherapy accelerated partial breast irradiation.

PURPOSE: Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-ß1) is a profibrotic cytokine used as an early biomarker to develop radiation-induced fibrosis (RIF). This study aimed to compare TGF-ß1 serum levels in early-stage breast cancer patients treated with whole-breast radiation therapy (WBRT) plus boost versus accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This clinical trial study was conducted on 20 women with early-stage breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery candidate for adjuvant radiotherapy in Golestan hospital, Ahvaz, in 2021. In one group APBI with high-dose-rate brachytherapy (n = 10), the other group WBRT with external beam radiation plus boost (n = 10) was performed. Serum level of TGF-ß1 was evaluated before radiotherapy, immediately after the end of radiotherapy and three months after the end of radiotherapy by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA). RESULTS: Median serum TGF-ß1 level before radiotherapy was not significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.971). In both APBI and WBRT groups, serum TGF-ß1 levels significantly decreased immediately after radiotherapy compared to before treatment (p = 0.005 and p = 0.007, respectively); But three months after radiotherapy, serum TGF-ß1 levels increased significantly in the WBRT group (40.50 to 77.41 pg/mL; p = 0.017), while no significant change was observed in the APBI group (24.75 to 30.50 pg/mL; p = 0.332). CONCLUSIONS: Higher TGF-ß1 values in the WBRT group after radiotherapy can be used as an early and vital biomarker in this treatment, and this data may corroborate links between TGF-beta1 and fibrosis and fibrosis rates between APBI and WBRT; It also shows the preference for using the brachytherapy technique in this group of patients. However, due to the small number of samples, definitive conclusions require further prospective studies.

Investigating the Dosimetric Characteristics of Microbeam Radiation Treatment.

BACKGROUND: High-radiation therapeutic gain could be achieved by the modern technique of microbeam radiation treatment (MRT). The aim of this study was to investigate the dosimetric properties of MRT. METHODS: The EGSnrc Monte Carlo (MC) code system was used to transport photons and electrons in MRT. The mono-energetic beams (1 cm × 1 cm array) of 50, 100, and 150 keV and the spectrum photon beam (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility [ESRF]) were modeled to transport through multislit collimators with the aperture's widths of 25 and 50 µm and the center-to-center (c-t-c) distance between two adjacent microbeams (MBs) of 200 µm. The calculated phase spaces at the upper surface of water phantom (1 cm × 1 cm) were implemented in DOSXYZnrc code to calculate the percentage depth dose (PDD), the dose profile curves (in depths of 0-1, 1-2, and 3-4 cm), and the peak-to-valley dose ratios (PVDRs). RESULTS: The PDD, dose profile curves, and PVDRs were calculated for different effective parameters. The more flatness of lateral dose profile was obtained for the ESRF spectrum MB. With constant c-t-c distance, an increase in the MB size increased the peak and valley dose; simultaneously, the PVDR was larger for the 25 µm MB (33.5) compared to 50 µm MB (21.9) beam, due to the decreased scattering photons followed to the lower overlapping of the adjacent MBs. An increase in the depth decreased the PVDRs (i.e., 54.9 in depth of 0-1 cm). CONCLUSION: Our MC model of MRT successfully calculated the effect of dosimetric parameters including photon's energy, beam width, and depth to estimate the dose distribution.

Protection from ionizing radiation-induced genotoxicity and apoptosis in rat bone marrow cells by HESA-A: a new herbal-marine compound.

HESA-A is an herbal-marine compound which improves the quality of life of end-stage cancer patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible protective effect of HESA-A against IR-induced genotoxicity and apoptosis in rat bone marrow. Rats were given HESA-A orally at doses of 150 and 300 mg/kg body weight for seven consecutive days. On the seventh day, the rats were irradiated with 4 Gy X-rays at 1 h after the last oral administration. The micronucleus assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level analysis, hematological analysis and flow cytometry were used to assess radiation antagonistic potential of HESA-A. Administration of 150 and 300 mg/kg of HESA-A to irradiated rats significantly reduced the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MnPCEs) and micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes (MnNCEs), and also increased PCE/(PCE + NCE) ratio in bone marrow cells. Moreover, pretreatment of irradiated rats with HESA-A (150 and 300 mg/kg) significantly decreased ROS level and apoptosis in bone marrow cells, and also increased white blood cells count in peripheral blood. For the first time in this study, it was observed that HESA-A can have protective effects against radiation-induced genotoxicity and apoptosis in bone marrow cells. Therefore, HESA-A can be considered as a candidate for future studies to reduce the side effects induced by radiotherapy in cancer patients.