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Title: The oncogenic action of ionizing radiation on rat skin: Progress report, February 1, 1987-January 31, 1988

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5672776

The work outlined in this report includes: epidermal DNA strand breaks and radiation penetration; activation of oncogenes in radiation induced rat skin tumors; and rat skin carcinogenesis by neon ions. The effect of radiation penetration on DNA single strand breaks has been studied extensively in rat and mouse epidermis. The results show clearly that the number of strand breaks per unit dose in the epidermal DNA is reduced by 50% to 65% when the radiation penetration is reduced from 1.0 mm to 0.2 mm. This penetration effect on DNA strand breaks was not seen in mouse epidermal cell lines growing in plastic dishes. The results imply that DNA strand breakage in superficial cells is partially dependent on the radiation dose to underlying tissue. The phenomenon is not mediated by systemic interactions as it was observed in irradiated explanted skin. The oncogene activation pattern in the radiation-induced skin tumors was found to be tumor dependent. Either K-ras activation or c-myc amplification or both was observed in each tumor analyzed so far. Even benign fibromas exhibited c-myc amplification. The carcinogenicity of high penetration electrons (2.0 MeV) was determined in preparation for similar studies with a neon ion beam at the Berkeley Bevelac. The principal finding so far is a large excess of connective tissue tumors, fibromas (benign) and sarcomas (malignant). 59 refs., 1 tab.

Research Organization:
New York Univ., NY (USA). Dept. of Environmental Medicine
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-87ER60539
OSTI ID:
5672776
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/60539-3; ON: DE88002637
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English