Preclinical Models Designed for the Development of Treatment Strategies for Radiation-Induced Tissue Toxicities

Presented By: Stephen T. Sonis, DMD, DMSc, Gregory D. Lyng, Ph.D., and Maria L. Mancini, Ph.D.

Description:

Ionizing radiation, whether in the context of radiotherapy or from unplanned or purposeful environmental exposure (i.e. Fukushima or dirty bomb), results in a sequence of biological events that create a host of clinically significant consequences that range in severity from local tissue reactions to death. In the oncology setting, radiation therapy is often an integral part a patient’s treatment regimen whether administrated as monotherapy, or more commonly, in combination with chemotherapeutics. Effective management of toxicities associated with current concomitant chemoradiation regimens remains a significant unmet clinical need. Furthermore, as new oncology agents are developed, their potential synergism with radiation presents both opportunities for more effective tumor kill and challenges in terms of their impact on normal tissue collateral damage. Equally or even more testing is the development of effective interventions to mitigate the effects of uncontrolled radiation exposures that are associated with environmental disasters or even the possibility of a terrorist attack using a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb.

This webinar will review several sophisticated preclinical models in which radiation therapy/exposure is used to supplement novel cancer therapies to define treatment efficacy and toxicities. We will discuss translational models that have been effectively used to enable intervention strategies for a range of radiation-induced tissue toxicities. Finally, we will discuss the use of preclinical models to help in the development of treatment strategies in the event of a catastrophic radiation exposure event.

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