PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We discuss new evidence supporting the existence of a susceptibility to develop cancer following radiation exposure that is variable in the general population and could be measurable from gene expression. RECENT FINDINGS: Microarray analysis of spontaneous and post-Chernobyl thyroid cancers has uncovered gene expression radiation signatures, one of which could be related to the putative cause of these tumors and to a DNA repair pathway. A gene expression signature distinguishes the lymphocytes drawn from parents of children with retinoblastoma and the lymphocytes of parents of healthy children. The first are more radiosensitive. A familial clustering pattern is observed in radiation-induced meningiomas. SUMMARY: The existence of a susceptibility to develop radiation-induced cancer would explain why only a minority of the population most heavily exposed to radiation following the Chernobyl disaster developed a cancer. The possibility of measuring this susceptibility from gene expression has a number of implications for research, medicine and radioprotection.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We discuss new evidence supporting the existence of a susceptibility to develop cancer following radiation exposure that is variable in the general population and could be measurable from gene expression. RECENT FINDINGS: Microarray analysis of spontaneous and post-Chernobyl thyroid cancers has uncovered gene expression radiation signatures, one of which could be related to the putative cause of these tumors and to a DNA repair pathway. A gene expression signature distinguishes the lymphocytes drawn from parents of children with retinoblastoma and the lymphocytes of parents of healthy children. The first are more radiosensitive. A familial clustering pattern is observed in radiation-induced meningiomas. SUMMARY: The existence of a susceptibility to develop radiation-induced cancer would explain why only a minority of the population most heavily exposed to radiation following the Chernobyl disaster developed a cancer. The possibility of measuring this susceptibility from gene expression has a number of implications for research, medicine and radioprotection.
Authors: Dongwon Choi; Swapnika Ramu; Eunkyung Park; Eunson Jung; Sara Yang; Wonhyeuk Jung; Inho Choi; Sunju Lee; Kyu Eui Kim; Young Jin Seong; Mingu Hong; George Daghlian; Daniel Kim; Eugene Shin; Jung In Seo; Vicken Khatchadourian; Mengchen Zou; Wei Li; Roger De Filippo; Paul Kokorowski; Andy Chang; Steve Kim; Ana Bertoni; Tania Weber Furlanetto; Sung Shin; Meng Li; Yibu Chen; Alex Wong; Chester Koh; Jan Geliebter; Young-Kwon Hong Journal: Cancer Res Date: 2015-11-25 Impact factor: 12.701