ATM Inhibition Sensitizes Tumors to High-Dose Irradiation.

Mechanistic studies of high-dose irradiation are important to improve our understanding on how the efficacy of stereotactically delivered high-dose irradiation can be enhanced by therapeutics such as ataxia-telangiesctasia-mutated (ATM) inhibitors. In this issue of , Torok and colleagues found that a single 15 Gy radiation dose eliminated lung tumor growth in mice when ATM was deleted in cancer cells versus when deleted in endothelial cells. These data support the establishment of clinical trials testing ATM inhibitors in combination with highly conformal radiotherapy or high-dose rate brachytherapy..