RADIATION-INDUCED ABSCOPAL EFFECTS ON CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

Radiotherapy is widely employed in the curative or palliative treatment of practically all cancers which mainly exerts infield cytotoxic effects by direct physical DNA damage or indirect insults from reactive oxygen species, contingent upon the radiation source being utilized. In contrary, first defined by Mole in 1953 ‘radiation-induced abscopal effect (RIAE)’ refers to the distant non-targeted actions of radiation on organ basis or the whole body that may be either beneficial or detrimental. Although it is challenging to comment on exact mechanisms of RIAE, it is widely acknowledged that the non-targeted distant effects of RIAE are mainly mediated by the cytokines released from the tumor or bystander cells into the circulation, or radiation-induced systemic immunity. The present review focuses mainly on the rarely addressed potential impacts of RIAE on the cardiovascular system and tries to provide evidence for suggested mechanisms.