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Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine pp 789–805Cite as

Hormesis by Low Dose Radiation Effects: Low-Dose Cancer Risk Modeling Must Recognize Up-Regulation of Protection

Part of the Medical Radiology book series (Med Radiol Radiat Oncol)

Abstract

Ionizing radiation primarily perturbs the basic molecular level proportional to dose, with potential damage propagation to higher levels: cells, tissues, organs, and whole body. There are three types of defenses against damage propagation. These operate deterministically and below a certain impact threshold there is no propagation. Physical static defenses precede metabolic-dynamic defenses acting immediately: scavenging of toxins;—molecular repair, especially of DNA;—removal of damaged cells either by apoptosis, necrosis, phagocytosis, cell differentiation-senescence, or by immune responses,—followed by replacement of lost elements. Another metabolic-dynamic defense arises delayed by up-regulating immediately operating defense mechanisms. Some of these adaptive protections may last beyond a year and all create temporary protection against renewed potentially toxic impacts also from nonradiogenic endogenous sources. Adaptive protections have a maximum after single tissue absorbed doses around 100–200 mSv and disappear with higher doses. Low dose-rates initiate maximum protection likely at lower cell doses delivered repetitively at certain time intervals. Adaptive protection preventing only about 2–3 % of endogenous lifetime cancer risk would fully balance a calculated-induced cancer risk at about 100 mSv, in agreement with epidemiological data and concordant with an hormetic effect. Low-dose-risk modeling must recognize up-regulation of protection.

Keywords

  • Low-dose cancer risk
  • Adaptive protections
  • Hormesis

This work represents the opinion of its authors. It should not be read as representing the position of the NIH, DHHS, nor the US Government.

This chapter corresponds to a paper published by Dose-Response in June 2010 and is given here by permission from the journal Dose-Response.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Ludwig E. Feinendegen

  2. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Ludwig E. Feinendegen

  3. School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Myron Pollycove

  4. Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Ronald D. Neumann

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  1. Ludwig E. Feinendegen
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  2. Myron Pollycove
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  3. Ronald D. Neumann
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Correspondence to Ludwig E. Feinendegen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. THERANOSTICS Center for Molecular, Radiotherapy and Molecular Imaging, ENETS Center of Excellence, Bad Berka, Germany

    Richard P. Baum

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Feinendegen, L.E., Pollycove, M., Neumann, R.D. (2012). Hormesis by Low Dose Radiation Effects: Low-Dose Cancer Risk Modeling Must Recognize Up-Regulation of Protection. In: Baum, R. (eds) Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2012_686

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