BI 180 - Radiation Biology

• review of cell biology: Identify important functions of organic and inorganic cell constituents, and of various cell structures and organelles; including explanation of cell division;
• types of ionizing radiations: Distinguish between ionizing and non-ionizing radiations, and identify sources of electromagnetic and particulate ionizing radiations;
• specification of radiation quantities: Identify and distinguish between the physical and biologic units of radiation dose;
• molecular effects of radiation: Identify radiation induced chemical reactions resulting in the production of free radicals, and describe how free radical production causes biologic damage;
• deposition of radient energy: Define and describe the interrelationship of LET and RBE including factors that influence RBE, as well as the interrelationship between the Oxygen Enhancement Ration and LET;
• subcellular radiation effects: Identify and describe the types of biologic effects from ionizing radiation exposure at the subcellular level (damage in humans), and state how subcellular radiation effects are expressed in humans;
• cellular radiation effects: Identify and describe types of radiation – induced biologic effects at the cellular level and state how cellular radiation effects are expressed in humans;
• individual radiation effects: Define somatic, stochastic and genetic radiation effects and identify specific diseases or syndromes associated with these effects;
• factors influencing radiation response: Identify methods to measure radiation response; list physical, chemical and biologic factors influencing radiation response, and distinguish between lethal and sublethal response and identify factors which influence response;
• differentiation, mitotic rate and radiosensitivity: Define radiosensitivity and list factors influencing it; include how the radiosensitivity of tissues relates to mitotic rate and degree of differentiation;
• CELL SURVIVAL CURVES: Identify various survival curve parameters, and the clinical implications of factors that can influence survival curves.
• systemic response to radiation: Associate the expected responses to radiation with the appropriate dose levels for blood, skin, digestive, urinary, respiratory, reproductive and nervous systems, and for each of the systems listed, identify factors influencing degree of response;
• tolerance dose: Define the clinical significance of the concept of tolerance and identify factors that influence tolerance at various sites;
• acute whole body radiation: Describe conditions which result in a Radiation Syndrome (RS) and possible medical interventions used to modify RS, include the various stages, dose levels and factors that influence response in RS;
• late effects of radiation: Identify and define possible radiation induced somatic, genetic and stochastic effects in humans;
• tumor radiobiology: Identify characteristics of malignant growth in vivo and describe the role of oxygen in malignant tumor systems;
• basic clinical radiotherapy concepts: Define and discuss various concepts (radiosensitivity, radiocurability, radioresistance therapeutic ratio); compare the use of high LET radiations to low LET radiations and indicate the clinical significance of each;
• other clinical radiotherapy concepts: Describe the clinical significance of the processes of cell repair, repopulation, recruitment and reoxygenation; list types and provide a rationale for treatment fractionation; define and calculate NSD and discuss the implication of NSD in clinical radiobiology (indicate limitations of NSD); describe the concept of tolerance using time/dose models to produce iso-effect curves, and illustrate the interrelationship between time-dose-volume to tolerance and to clinical complications in radiotherapy;
• chemotherapeutic considerations: Identify chemotherapeutic agents that effect radiation tolerance and response; and
• hyperthermia: Describe methods used and rationale for hyperthermia treatment, and describe cellular response to heat including the sensitivity cells to heat therapy and the significance to clinical limitation of radiotherapy.