Course program, A.Y. 2017-18


Lesson Date Topics Linked slides and useful links
1 February 26th, 2018 Basics of radiation damage. Stopping power and LET. Radiolysis of water and radiolytical species. Dynamics of water radiolysis. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). G values.
2 February 27th, 2018 Radiosensitivity of different animal cells; the radiosensitivity of extremophiles. Broad classification of human cells. The main parts of a human cells. The sizes of biological objects from single molecules to the largest cells. Exercise: measurement of the replication time of a strain of leukemia cells.
  • Slides
3 March 5th, 2018 Basic information on the structure of DNA. The molecular structure of DNA. DNA replication. Coding and non-coding DNA. The genetic code. The meaning of the code: protein synthesis. The shape of proteins. Ribosomes.
Radiation damage to the constituents of cells. Direct and indirect damage. The role of ROS; endogenous and exogenous ROS-related damage. The first line of defense: superoxide dismutase, catalase, etc.
4 March 6th, 2018 The second line of defense: DNA repair mechanisms. Cell death in case of unrepaired damage. Mutations. Gene modifications linked to cancer; oncogens, tumor-suppressor genes, repair genes. The hallmarks of cancer. The tumor microenvironment. Mathematical models of carcinogenesis: a simple model of colorectal cancer. Peto's paradox.
  • Slides
5 March 12th, 2018 Cell death and cell survival curves. Biological endpoints. The linear-quadratic (LQ) model. Target theory. Multitarget model. Conditions that influence the shape of the cell survival curve: RBE, OER, etc. Dose-response curves.
Use of the LQ model in radiation therapy. Tumor control probability. Normal tissue complication probability. Low-level radiation and radiation protection issues. Radiosensitizers.
6 March 13th, 2018 Fractionation. The Biologically Effective Dose (BED) and its modifications. The 4 R's of radiotherapy (... 5 R's). Simple examples of treatment schedules. Isoeffect and equivalent dose at 2 Gy. Dose-volume histograms and isodose curves. Equivalent Uniform Dose (EUD). Optimization, basic concepts of treatment plans.