Bystander effects induced by medium from carbon-ion irradiated human cancer cells

The bystander effects induced by medium from human hepatoma SMMC-7721 and adenocarcinoma F56 cells irradiated with carbon ions were investigated. It was found that the survival fraction (SF) of the irradiated cells decreased exponentially along with the increased dose. SMMC-7721 cells were more radiosensitive than F56 cells. The plating efficiency (PE) of the non-irradiated cells treated with irradiated conditioned medium (ICM) was obvi-ously lower than the PE of control cells for SMMC-7721 cells but not for F56 cells. Moreover, the reduced PE and SF by ICM treatment were more significant for 1Gy irradiation than for 6Gy irradiation on SMMC-7721 cells. These results suggest that the irradiated cells can secrete factor(s) into medium that is cytotoxic to bystander non-irradiated cells. The bystander effects are dependent on cell genotype presented at the time of irradiation and radiation dose. This makes impact on the precise estimation of the effects of radiation and tumor radiotherapy.