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The Mammalian Radiation Survival Curve

Harvard Medical School, Joint Center for Radiation Therapy and Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Correspondence: For reprints contact: William D. Bloomer, MD, Harvard Medical School, 50 Binney St., Boston, MA 02115.

ABSTRACT

Cell death from ionizing radiation is the result of chemical alterations in the genome. For cells grown in culture, various mathematical equations have been proposed to describe the loss of reproductive capacity. Based on target theory, they provide a convenient description of radiation dose-response curves and allow the calculation of characteristic parameters for comparative radiation studies. Recovery processes, including redistribution, repair, repopulation, recruitment, and reoxygenation (in tumors only) play an important role in the final expression of cellular damage.