[HTML][HTML] Induction of micronuclei in cervical cancer treated with radiotherapy

D Kobayashi, T Oike, K Murata, D Irie, Y Hirota… - Journal of Personalized …, 2020 - mdpi.com
D Kobayashi, T Oike, K Murata, D Irie, Y Hirota, H Sato, A Shibata, T Ohno
Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2020mdpi.com
Micronuclei (MN) trigger antitumor immune responses via the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-
signaling effector stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway. Radiotherapy
induces MN in peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, data for solid tumors are lacking.
Here, we analyzed MN post-radiotherapy in solid tumor samples. Tumor biopsy specimens
were obtained from seven prospectively recruited patients with cervical cancer, before
treatment and after receiving radiotherapy at a dose of 10 Gy (in five fractions). The samples …
Micronuclei (MN) trigger antitumor immune responses via the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-signaling effector stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway. Radiotherapy induces MN in peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, data for solid tumors are lacking. Here, we analyzed MN post-radiotherapy in solid tumor samples. Tumor biopsy specimens were obtained from seven prospectively recruited patients with cervical cancer, before treatment and after receiving radiotherapy at a dose of 10 Gy (in five fractions). The samples were stained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride, and 200 nuclei per sample were randomly identified and assessed for the presence of MN or apoptosis, based on nuclear morphology. The median number of MN-harboring nuclei was significantly greater in samples from patients treated with radiotherapy than in pre-treatment samples (151 (range, 16–327) versus 28 (range, 0–61); p = 0.015). No significant differences in the number of apoptotic nuclei were observed between pre-treatment and 10 Gy samples (5 (range, 0–30) versus 12 (range, 2–30); p = 0.30). This is the first report to demonstrate MN induction by radiotherapy in solid tumors. The results provide clinical evidence of the activation of antitumor immune responses by radiotherapy.
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