What is the mechanism of the chronic radiation enteritis?
The use of radiation therapy to treat cancer inevitably involves exposure of normal tissues. Although the benefits of this treatment have been well established, a number of patients experience distressing complications as a result injury to normal tissue These side effects related to inflammatory process cause discomfort and decreases the therapeutic benefit by increasing the overall treatment time. A research article published on 14 December 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses the question. The research led by Dr Christine Linard and her colleagues from the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear safety (IRSN) in France used experimentally a fractionated colorectal irradiation model to demonstrate an immune imbalance during the radiotherapy protocol and persisting in long term. They found that without causing histological damage, fractionated radiation induced elevated expression of IL-1beta, TNF alpha, MCP-1, and iNOS in distal colonic mucosa during the early po
