Basic Clinical Radiobiology 2017

Mitotic Catastrophe • Mitotic catastrophe takes place at long times after irradiation – Depends on proliferation rate – Influenced by DNA repair capacity • Cell death may occur at different times following mitotic catastrophe – Nuclear fragmentation – Apoptosis, necrosis, senescence, autophagy • Cells may attempt several divisions – Multiple failed divisions – Cell fusions – Giant cell formation, multiple micronuclei • Genome becomes so unstable as to no longer support normal cell function