Recent Advances in Radiation Therapy of Cancer Cells: A Step towards an Experimental and Systems Biology Framework

Abstract

Due to rapid emergence of recombinant and antibody-based reagents targeting specifically biomarkers of disease, radiolabeling of antibodies has enabled the imaging and therapy of various reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated pathological conditions, such as cancer. Key contributions to this topic have been dissected through two main standpoints: (1) immunotherapeutics for advanced cancer care, including radiolabeling for cancer imaging and therapy, design and testing of antibodies, and radioimmunotherapy innovations for treating malignancies and (2) search for a more efficient drug-targeted delivery method for cancer therapy. Because tremendous progress has been made in recent years, the future of cancer radioimmunotherapy is suggested to be bright. The question, whether measurement of oxidative damage to DNA has clinical relevance, is addressed. To make biomarkers of oxidatively damaged DNA useful clinical tools, further validation of biomarkers, followed by further elucidation of the role of damage in disease, is suggested. To understand the role of oxidative damage by focusing on cellular processes under oxidative stress conditions, the complementarities of mechanistic cell biology studies and systems biology strategies in identifying new therapeutic targets are demonstrated for liver cancer cells. Since most morphological, physiological and molecular studies on death of cells in tissues have been carried out on isolated cell populations, systems biology is suggested to be a means of overcoming known difficulties manifested by interference and interaction with surrounding cells. The elucidation of fundamental background of the ability of cells to interpret the same signal action in distinct fashions - survival vs. death signal transduction is suggested to facilitate more localized and efficient treatments of various ROS-mediated pathologies.