The relationship between o.e.r., r.b.e. and number of fractions for X-ray- or neutron-induced skin damage.

The skin reactions in aerated and hypoxic mouse tails after single or fractionated doses of 250 kV X-rays or fast neutrons (6 MeV deuterons on beryllium) have been measured. The o.e.r. for one to sixteen fractions of X-rays remains constant, while that for one to ten fractions of neutrons decreases with increasing neutron fractionation and decreasing neutron dose/fraction. The o.e.r. for X-rays was 1.7, for single-neutron doses 1.4, and for ten fractions of neutrons 1.25. It was anticipated that the o.e.r. for neutron-induced damage would decrease further as neutron fractionation is increased because the contribution to damage from the highest LET components of dose, the alpha and heavy recoil particles, would increase relative to the lowe LET components. The r.b.e. values obtained for skin damage were higher at all neutron doses/fraction examined in this study on tails than all those previously obtained in studies on skin at other sites on four species. This may be due to the influence of hypoxia on the r.b.e. measurements in the mouse tail.