Proceedings of the British Institute of Radiology Chromosome damage: mechanisms, methodologies and applications, 13 November 1992

Detection of inter-individual differences in chromosomal radiosensitivity of normal somatic cells is potentially important for predicting cancer predisposition and response to radiotherapy. Elevated chromosomal radiosensitivity is probably a reflection of inefficient DNA repair. It has long been known that some rare heritable cancer-prone syndromes exhibit chromosomal radiosensitivity. A more general relationship between familial predisposition to cancer and G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity has now been reported (Sanford et al, 1989); we are attempting to confirm these findings. Perhaps more surprisingly, Hsu and colleagues (Hsu et al, 1989) have shown that when G2 lymphocytes of sporadic cancer patients are treated with the classic radiomimetic agent, bleomycin, their average sensitivity is greater than that of healthy controls.