The Janeway Lecture 1992. Nine decades of radiobiology: is radiation therapy any the better for it?

Nine decades have elapsed since Pierre Curie performed the first radiobiologic experiment when he used a radium tube to produce an ulcer on his arm and charted its progress and ultimate healing. A wide range of topics have been investigated in experimental radiation biology from chromosomal aberrations to fractionation effects in normal tissues to the use of neutrons and bioreductive drugs. Many of the strategies used in clinical radiation therapy, including hyperfractionation and accelerated treatment, are firmly based on laboratory experiments conducted in the past. Much current research is focused on understanding the molecular genetics of cancer to identify the genes that are activated or deleted in cells exposed to radiation. Radiobiology has played a key role in shaping radiation therapy into the vigorous, scientifically based, and highly quantitative branch of medicine that it is currently. In addition, research is preparing the field for the future when treatment protocols must be based on molecular rather than cellular biology.