HIT cancerous tumours with radiation at just the right time and you can boost
your killing power. That’s the message coming from a model of how cancer cells
behave.
Cancerous cells are more resistant to radiation at certain times in their
life cycle. They are particularly impervious when they’re duplicating their DNA,
since they are actively checking for mistakes in the genetic code and repairing
them. At that point “they’re relatively bulletproof,” says Norman Kirkby, a
biochemical engineer from the University of Surrey.
Radiologists would like to treat patients when most cancer cells are in a
more vulnerable phase. But…
