title: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy: some parallels and differences.
abstract: The effects of exposure to ionizing radiations and to various chemotherapeutic agents on the survival of mammalian cells are compared. The relative importance of the cells' sensitivity, age response, proliferative state, and degree of oxygenation and the contributions of kinetic and repair phenomena are examined. Cell killing by high-LET radiations is influenced least by cellular or kinetic factors; thus tumors should show a relatively homogeneous response to this modality, while time-dose relationships should be of least importance. The effectiveness of antimetabolite therapy depends critically on the choice of the correct agents and on tailoring drug administration to the kinetics of both normal and malignant tissue.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D006224:Cricetinae; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000494:pharmacology; D011830:Radiation Effects
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen