Cellular and molecular characterization of the effects of different beam qualities on in vitro cancer cell models

Hadrontherapy is a form of external radiation therapy, which uses beams of heavy charged particles such as carbon ions. Compared to conventional radiotherapy, the main advantage of carbon ion therapy is the precise dose localization along with an increased biological effectiveness. First results obtained from prostate cancer patients treated with carbon ion therapy, show good local tumor control and survival rates. However, the impact of hadrontherapy on cellular changes is not yet well characterized. Therefore, this study aimed to compare some of the in vitro cellular and molecular responses of cancer cells triggered after photon or carbon ion irradiation. Our results showed that carbon ion irradiation was more potent to induce cell death and was able to prominently inhibit motility gene expression. In addition, investigation of the influence of radiation on DNA damage and repair kinetics and the subsequent changes in cell cycle progression showed as well that carbon ion irradiation was far more potent to induce DNA damage compared to conventional X-rays.