ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S3944

Radiobiology - Normal tissue radiobiology

ESTRO 2025

3399

Digital Poster Simulating carbon ions-induced microvascular damage using a microvasculature-on-chip model Luca Possenti 1 , Michela Magnoni 2 , Tommaso Giandini 3 , Alexandra Charalampopoulou 4,5 , Alfredo Mirandola 4 , Valentina Doldi 6 , Angelica Facoetti 4 , Chiara Arrigoni 7,8 , Maria Laura Costantino 2 , Ester Orlandi 4,9 , Nadia Zaffaroni 6 , Marco Pullia 4 , Matteo Moretti 7,8,10 , Tiziana Rancati 1 1 Data Science Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. 2 Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering dept., Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy. 3 Medical Physics Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. 4 CNAO, National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, Pavia, Italy. 5 IUSS, University School for Advanced Studies, Pavia, Italy. 6 Molecular Pharmacology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. 7 RMT Lab, Service of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona, Switzerland. 8 Euler Institute, Biomedical Sciences Faculty, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland. 9 Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 10 Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy Purpose/Objective: Traditional in-vitro radiobiological models often lack the complex environment that includes supporting cells and extracellular matrix. In recent decades, organ-on-chip technology has provided a powerful tool to replicate the 3D environment and its essential components. On the other hand, carbon ion therapy offers advantages over standard photon radiotherapy, leading to more effective damage and increased tumor control, particularly in radio-resistant cancers. We present a chip-based in-vitro model to study the effects of carbon ion-induced damage on microvasculature.

Material/Methods:

We designed the microvasculature-on-chip model leveraging previous studies [1]. The microfluidic chip had three parallel channels. The central channel housed HUVECs and fibroblasts embedded in a fibrin-thrombin gel to create a vascularized 3D microenvironment. A custom irradiation phantom was designed and built by joining a solid water phantom, a Petri dish with a 3d printed insert, and PMMA slabs to enclose the Petri dish (Figure 1) [2].

The phantom's thickness was optimized for the Spread-Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) irradiation of the chip. We administered SOBP carbon ion irradiation with doses up to 8 Gy and assessed the resulting DNA damage using γH2AX immunofluorescence. Results were compared to damage from 6 MV photon beam irradiation delivered by a LINAC.