Abscopal effects of radiation therapy: a clinical review for the radiobiologist.
An "abscopal" effect occurs when localized irradiation perturbs the organism as a whole, with consequences that can be either beneficial or detrimental. Mechanistic explanations of this effect are challenging. From the oncologist's perspective, the term refers to distant tumor regression after localized irradiation. On the other hand, from a biologist's point of view, abscopal effects include induction of genomic instability, cell death, and oncogenic transformation in normal tissues. This conceptual dichotomy is explored in this review, with a focus on clinically documented cases of anti-tumor abscopal effects and abscopal effects in normal tissues. This review also outlines several suggested mechanisms for abscopal effects.
['Siva|Shankar|S|', 'MacManus|Michael P|MP|', 'Martin|Roger F|RF|', 'Martin|Olga A|OA|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D017209:Apoptosis D024201:Bystander Effect D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic D016207:Cytokines D005260:Female D042822:Genomic Instability D006801:Humans D007249:Inflammation D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis D009369:Neoplasms
Abscopal effects Tumors Cytokines Immune system Normal tissue effects Radiotherapy