Aspects of harmonisation of individual monitoring for external radiation in Europe: Conclusions of a EURADOS action

Following the publication of the EU Council Directive 96/29, EURADOS coordinated two working groups (WGs) for promoting the process of harmonisation on individual monitoring of occupationally exposed persons in Europe. An overview of the major findings of the second WG is presented. Information on the technical and quality standards and on the accreditation and approval procedures has been compiled. The catalogue of dosimetric services has been updated and extended. An overview of national regulations and standards for protection from radon and other natural sources in workplaces has been made, attempting to combine the results from individual monitoring for external, internal and workplace monitoring. A first status description of the active personal dosemeters, including legislative and technical information, and their implementation has been made. The importance of practical factors on the uncertainty in the dose measurement has been estimated. Even if a big progress has been made towards harmonisation, there is still work to be don

Chromosomal radiosensitivity and acute radiation side effects after radiotherapy in tumour patients - a follow-up study

Radiotherapists are highly interested in optimizing doses especially for patients who tend to suffer from side effects of radiotherapy (RT). It seems to be helpful to identify radiosensitive individuals before RT. Thus we examined aberrations in FISH painted chromosomes in in vitro irradiated blood samples of a group of patients suffering from breast cancer. In parallel, a follow-up of side effects in these patients was registered and compared to detected chromosome aberrations. METHODS: Blood samples (taken before radiotherapy) were irradiated in vitro with 3 Gy X-rays and analysed by FISH-painting to obtain aberration frequencies of first cycle metaphases for each patient. Aberration frequencies were analysed statistically to identify individuals with an elevated or reduced radiation response. Clinical data of patients have been recorded in parallel to gain knowledge on acute side effects of radiotherapy. RESULTS: Eight patients with a significantly elevated or reduced aberration yield were identified by use of a t-test criterion. A comparison with clinical side effects revealed that among patients with elevated aberration yields one exhibited a higher degree of acute toxicity and two patients a premature onset of skin reaction already after a cumulative dose of only 10 Gy. A significant relationship existed between translocations in vitro and the time dependent occurrence of side effects of the skin during the therapy period. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that translocations can be used as a test to identify individuals with a potentially elevated radiosensitivity

Identification and manipulation of tumor associated macrophages in human cancers

Evading immune destruction and tumor promoting inflammation are important hallmarks in the development of cancer. Macrophages are present in most human tumors and are often associated with bad prognosis. Tumor associated macrophages come in many functional flavors ranging from what is known as classically activated macrophages (M1) associated with acute inflammation and T-cell immunity to immune suppressive macrophages (M2) associated with the promotion of tumor growth. The role of these functionally different myeloid cells is extensively studied in mice tumor models but dissimilarities in markers and receptors make the direct translation to human cancer difficult. This review focuses on recent reports discriminating the type of infiltrating macrophages in human tumors and the environmental cues present that steer their differentiation. Finally, immunotherapeutic approaches to interfere in this process are discussed

Conductivity of Alanine Solution for High Level Dosimetry.

The amino acid alanine is well known as a dosimetric detector material for high level dosimetry. Its application is based on the formation of radicals by ionising radiation. The free radicals are earlier detected by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy or chemically after dissolving the irradiated samples. Of all these methods the ESR/alanine system is the most advanced and is suggested for reference dosimetry. At present, however, the high cost of the system is a serious handicap for a large scale routine application in radiation plants. In this study the variation of electrical conductivity of L-alanine solution with applied dose is investigated in the range from 0.5-200 kGy. The conductivity was measured with a 50 MHz RF oscillator. This readout method is uncomplicated and may be suitable for routine application. The experiments were performed with L-alanine solution in glass ampoules