Mechanism and modification of gastrointestinal soft tissue response to radiation: Role of growth factors

Conclusions: Late radiation-related bowel fibrovascular toxicity includes cytokine signal pathways that parallel those of many other normal tissues. These cytokine responses include elevations of tumor necrosis factor α, TGFβ1, and interleukin-6. There exist approaches for lowering these cytokine levels that do not also protect tumor, and thus a therapeutic gain is expected. Opportunities to use these cytokine measurements both to predict clinical toxicity and to develop interventions are discussed.