title: Chromosomal aberrations, DNA strand breaks and gene mutations in nasopharyngeal cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.
abstract: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a common disease in the south part of China, and its incidence is increasing in the southwest of China in recent years. Radiation therapy is the main therapeutic method for NPC in China. In this study, genetic changes were assessed in randomly selected nine NPC patients receiving radiation therapy by different genotoxical screening methods, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus test (CB-MNT), the buccal mucosa cell micronucleus test (BMC-MNT), the undivided lymphocyte micronucleus test (UL-MNT), chromosomal aberration (CA) test, the comet assay and the hprt gene mutation test (HPRT). Patients were used as self-control before receiving radiation therapy. Apart from the UL-MNT, all the methods detected genetic damages in NPC patients, though with different sensitivities. CB-MNT is the best biological indicator for evaluating genetic damage induced by radiation therapy in NPC patients; followed by CA and HPRT, while the BMC-MNT is simplest method as a potential biological indicator.
authors.affiliation: Hygiene Toxicology Department, Preventive Medicine College, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, PR China. caoqq@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Huaming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xueli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Ziyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000528:radiation effects*; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009154:Mutation / Q000528:radiation effects; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm