Position in proton Bragg curve influences DNA damage complexity and survival in head and neck cancer cells.

Background And Purpose: Understanding the cellular and molecular effect of proton radiation, particularly the increased DNA damage complexity at the distal end of the Bragg curve, is current topic of investigation. This work aims to study clonogenic survival and DNA damage foci kinetics of a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line at various positions along a double passively scattered Bragg curve. Complementary studies are conducted to gain insights into the link between cell survival variations, experimentally yielded foci and the number and complexity of double strand breaks (DSBs).

Micro-Vessels-Like 3D Scaffolds for Studying the Proton Radiobiology of Glioblastoma-Endothelial Cells Co-Culture Models.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating cancer of the brain with an extremely poor prognosis. While X-ray radiotherapy and chemotherapy remain the current standard, proton beam therapy is an appealing alternative as protons can damage cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue. However, the effects of protons on in vitro GBM models at the cellular level, especially when co-cultured with endothelial cells, the building blocks of brain micro-vessels, are still unexplored.