Ion-beam irradiation provides a promising treatment for some types of cancer. This promise is due mainly to the selective deposition of energy into a relatively small volume (the Bragg peak), thus reducing damage to healthy tissue. Recent observations that electrons with energies below the ionization potential of DNA can cause covalent damage to the bases and backbone have led to investigations into the ability of low-energy (<1 keV·Da−1) ion beams to damage double-stranded DNA. It has been clearly demonstrated that these low-energy ions induce a mixture of single- and double-strand breaks to dried DNA in vacuo. These effects depend upon the number of ions incident upon the DNA, the kinetic energy of the ions and on their charge state. This DNA damage may be important, as all radiotherapies will result in the production of low-energy secondary ions as radiation passes through tissues. Currently, their effects are neglected in treatment planning, and thus more work is required to quantify and understand DNA damage by low-energy ions.
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August 2009
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Conference Article|
July 22 2009
DNA damage by low-energy ions
C. Adam Hunniford;
C. Adam Hunniford
*School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, U.K.
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Robert W. McCullough;
Robert W. McCullough
*School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, U.K.
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R. Jeremy H. Davies;
R. Jeremy H. Davies
†School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, U.K.
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David J. Timson
David J. Timson
1
†School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email d.timson@qub.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
December 11 2008
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Biochemical Society
2009
Biochem Soc Trans (2009) 37 (4): 893–896.
Article history
Received:
December 11 2008
Citation
C. Adam Hunniford, Robert W. McCullough, R. Jeremy H. Davies, David J. Timson; DNA damage by low-energy ions. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2009; 37 (4): 893–896. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0370893
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