Relative biological effectiveness (R.B.E.) of Cf-252 vs. acute Co-60 and low dose rate Cs-137 irradiation by spleen weight loss

R.B.E. of Cf-252 on lymphoid tissue was assessed by radiation study of spleen weight loss following acute Co-60, and low dose rate (L.D.R.) Cs-137 and Cf-252 irradiations. Acute Co-60 and L.D.R. Cs-137 dose-response followed two component exponential curves with a 1.3-fold greater effect of L.D.R. Cs-137 vs. acute Co-60 on the first slope and 1.9-fold greater effect for the 2nd slope. L.D.R. Cf-252 response was 1.3 x greater than acute Co-60 but was 1.0 vs. L.D.R. Cs-137 for the first slope indicating a similar effect of Cf-252 mixed neutron/gamma radiation to L.D.R. gamma radiation in producing spleen shrinkage. There was no effect of different sequences and schedules of mixing acute Co-60 with Cf-252 irradiation observed by endogenous CFU-S survival. The R.B.E. of 1.0 - 1.9 indicates that lymphohemopoietic in vivo, presumably well oxygenated, does not respond acutely or as sensitively as hypoxic tumor where R.B.E. is 5 - 7. (author)