Tumour hypoxia as a predictive factor for radiotherapy
Piotr Martenka1, Andrzej Roszak2
Radiotherapy is, next to surgery, the basic method of treatment in oncology. The intensive searching of the predictive factors for radiotherapy effectiveness, are still continuing. The mechanism of radiotherapy action depends on the cellular oxygen presence. The latest studies evidence, that the molecular oxygen, through the mechanism of fixation, leads to destruction of the DNA damage, caused by the ionizing radiation, repair. Number of studies has demonstrated, that the tumour hypoxia evaluation correlates with radiotherapy effectiveness. However, the universal method assessing the tumour hypoxia does not exist. Actually used methods, as Eppendorf’s electrode, the molecular markers of hypoxia evaluation, or PET studies with oxydo-reductive radiopharmaceutical agents, bring conflicting results. So, a lot of doubts about the quantitative and qualitative character of relationship between hypoxia and sensitivity for radiotherapy still exist. Moreover, the analysis is impeded by fact, that the hypoxia has significant negative prognostic influence on the treatment results with radiotherapy, through the genome and proteomic changes induction. The paper presents the actual status of knowledge about the influence of tumour hypoxia on radiotherapy effectiveness.