Kuettel M R, Thraves P J, Jung M, Varghese S P, Prasad S C, Rhim J S, Dritschilo A
Department of Radiation Medicine, Vincent T. Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
Cancer Res. 1996 Jan 1;56(1):5-10.
We report the malignant transformation of human prostate epithelial cells (267B1) after multiple exposures to ionizing radiation. Carcinogenic progression of cells from immortal growth to anchorage-independent growth in soft agar to tumorigenicity in athymic mice resulted after a cumulative X-ray dose of 30 Gy. The tumors were characterized histologically as poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, expressed prostate-specific antigen, and stained positive for keratin. No p53 or ras mutations were observed. Numerous chromosomal defects were noted on karyotypes after radiation exposure. However, chromosome 3 and 8 translocations were observed predominantly in the tumor outgrowths. These findings provide the first evidence of malignant transformation of human prostate epithelial cells exposed to ionizing radiation.
