Improved Survival of Mice After Total Body Irradiation with 10 MV Photon, 2400 MU/min SRS Beam

Background/Aim: We evaluated the radiobiological effects of stereo tactic radiosurgery (SRS) photon beams on survival of C57BL/6NTac mice following total body irradiation. Materials and Methods: Survival of Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL) cells was tested after irradiation using 6 MV: 300 MU/min or 1400 MU/min; or 10 MV: 300 MU/min or 2400 MU/min. Survival of C57BL/6NTac mice after a dose which is lethal to 50% of the mice in 30 days (LD50/30) (9.25 Gy) total body irradiation (TBI) and 21 Gy to orthotopic 3LL tumors was tested. We quantitated levels of organ-specific gene transcripts by Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Results: While 3LL cell survival and inhibition of orthotopic tumor growth was uniform, 10 MV photons at 2400 MU/min TBI led to significantly greater survival (p=0.0218), with higher levels of intestinal (Sod2), (Gpx1), (Nrf2), and (NFKB) RNA transcripts. Conclusion: Clinical 10 MV-2400 cGy/min SRS beams led to unexpected protection of mice on TBI and increased radioprotective gene transcripts.