Relative biological effectiveness of 125I seeds for low-dose-rate irradiation of PANC-1

Objective: To investigate the relative biological effectiveness(RBE) of National Model 6711 125I seeds and the response patterns of PANC-1 exposed to 125I seeds irradiation. Methods: PANC-1 cells in exponential growth were irradiated at initial dose rate of 2.59 cGy/h in vitro and exposed to 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Gy. Meanwhile, the other part of cells were exposed to the same doses by 60Co at dose rate of 2.21 Gy/min. After irradiation, the cells were stained by trypan blue to measure the cellular mortality rate and to compare the changes along with plating times of 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after 4 Gy. The colonies were counted to obtain the plating efficiencies by colony-forming assay and the cell surviving faction was calculated to plot cell survival curves, and RBE of 125I seeds relative to 60Co was determined. Results: The cell death rate for continuous low- dose-rate (LDR) irradiation by 125I seeds was greater than 60Co at the same doses above or equal to 4 Gy. After 4 Gy irradiation, the cellular mortality rates were increased with times. The difference was significant between 125I seeds and 60Co. The survival fractions of 125I were lower than those of 60Co, and the RBE of 125I relative to 60Co was determined to be 1.45. Conclusion: The cell-killing effects for continuous low-dose-rate (LDR) irradiation by 125I seeds are greater than acute high-dose-rate of 60Co. (authors)