A Mathematical Radiobiological Model (MRM) to Predict Complex DNA Damage and Cell Survival for Ionizing Particle Radiations of Varying Quality

Abstract

Predicting radiobiological effects is important in different areas of basic or clinical applications using ionizing radiation (IR); for example, towards optimizing radiation protection or radiation therapy protocols. In this case, we utilized as a basis the ‘MultiScale Approach (MSA)’ model and developed an integrated mathematical radiobiological model (MRM) with several modifications and improvements. Based on this new adaptation of the MSA model, we have predicted cell-specific levels of initial complex DNA damage and cell survival for irradiation with 11Β, 12C, 14Ν, 16Ο, 20Νe, 40Αr, 28Si and 56Fe ions by using only three input parameters (particle’s LET and two cell-specific parameters: the cross sectional area of each cell nucleus and its genome size). The model-predicted survival curves are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The particle Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) and Oxygen Enhancement Ratio (OER) are also calculated in a very satisfactory way. The proposed integrated MRM model (within current limitations) can be a useful tool for the assessment of radiation biological damage for ions used in hadron-beam radiation therapy or radiation protection purposes.

Keywords

• mathematical radiobiological model (MRM)
• complex DNA damage
• cell survival
• relative biological effectiveness (RBE)
• high-LET