Course program, A.Y. 2022-23


n Date Topics Linked slides and useful links
1 February 14th, 2023 Basics of radiation damage. Radiolysis of water and radiolytical species. Dynamics of water radiolysis. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). G values.

Radiosensitivity of different animal cells; the radiosensitivity of extremophiles.
2 February 15th, 2023 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.
3 February 21st, 2023 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.
4 February 22nd, 2023 The role of ROS; endogenous and exogenous ROS-related damage. The first line of defense: superoxide dismutase, catalase, etc.
The second line of defense: DNA repair mechanisms. Cell death in case of unrepaired damage. Mutations. Gene modifications linked to cancer; oncogenes, 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.
5 February 28th, 2023 Cell death and cell survival curves. Biological endpoints. Simple two-phase model of tissues to illustrate therapy optimization.
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. Therapy optimization, Tumor Control Probability and Normal Tissue Complication Probability.
6 March 1st, 2023
 The radiological wound. Methods to maximize damage to tumor cells and minimize damage to healthy cells. Radiosensitizers. 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. Monte Carlo simulation for the optimization of treatment plans. Isodose curves. Dose-volume histograms.


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