title: The paradox role of caspase cascade in ionizing radiation therapy.
abstract: Radiotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy/surgery is widely used for treatment of cancers. It reduces tumor growth and prevents metastasis. While ionizing radiation activates caspase cascade resulted in apoptosis in cancer cells, it also stimulates tumor cell re-population that leads to reduce the effectiveness of the radiation therapy. This review describes the mechanisms for paradox role of caspase cascade in cancer therapy and discusses the logical and practical strategies for improvement the therapeutic index of radiotherapy through enhancement of radiosensitivity and decreasing the rate of tumor recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Radiopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Najmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahmanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. sjhosseinim@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Seyed Jalal
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8055-8036
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hosseinimehr
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khalaj
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000528:radiation effects; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D020169:Caspases
keywords: Cancer; Caspase; Induction; Radiotherapy; Treatment