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    Radiat Environ Biophys. 2009 Aug;48(3):263-74. Epub 2009 Jun 18.

    A new view of radiation-induced cancer: integrating short- and long-term processes. Part I: approach.

    Shuryak I, Hahnfeldt P, Hlatky L, Sachs RK, Brenner DJ.

    Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA. ishuryak@gmail.com

    Mathematical models of radiation carcinogenesis are important for understanding mechanisms and for interpreting or extrapolating risk. There are two classes of such models: (1) long-term formalisms that track pre-malignant cell numbers throughout an entire lifetime but treat initial radiation dose-response simplistically and (2) short-term formalisms that provide a detailed initial dose-response even for complicated radiation protocols, but address its modulation during the subsequent cancer latency period only indirectly. We argue that integrating short- and long-term models is needed. As an example of this novel approach, we integrate a stochastic short-term initiation/inactivation/repopulation model with a deterministic two-stage long-term model. Within this new formalism, the following assumptions are implemented: radiation initiates, promotes, or kills pre-malignant cells; a pre-malignant cell generates a clone, which, if it survives, quickly reaches a size limitation; the clone subsequently grows more slowly and can eventually generate a malignant cell; the carcinogenic potential of pre-malignant cells decreases with age.

    PMID: 19536557 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    PMCID: 2714893

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