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Ionizing radiation (IR) and germline mutations in the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB1) are the strongest risk factors for developing osteosarcoma. Recapitulating the human predisposition, we found that Rb1+/- mice exhibited accelerated development of IR-induced osteosarcoma, with a latency of 39 weeks. Initial exposure of osteoblasts to carcinogenic doses of IR in vitro and in vivo induced RB1-dependent senescence and the expression of a panel of proteins known as senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), dominated by IL-6. RB1 expression closely correlated with that of the SASP cassette in human osteosarcomas, and low expression of both RB1 and the SASP genes was associated with poor prognosis. In vivo, IL-6 was required for IR-induced senescence, which elicited NKT cell infiltration and a host inflammatory response. Mice lacking IL-6 or NKT cells had accelerated development of IR-induced osteosarcomas. These data elucidate an important link between senescence, which is a cell-autonomous tumor suppressor response, and the activation of host-dependent cancer immunosurveillance. Our findings indicate that overcoming the immune response to senescence is a rate-limiting step in the formation of IR-induced osteosarcoma.

It is almost impossible to conduct a perfect study of the relative toxicity of the radiations produced by different radionuclides. This is because the results of such studies are commonly confounded by spatial and temporal differences in the distributions of dose produced by the radionuclides employed. In addition, the results of a study designed to overcome these problems (using matched radionuclides incorporated within fused clay particles) revealed additional characteristics of an ideal study. These included the use of sufficient numbers of animals to give the study statistical power; the derivation of all causes of death and of survival for the analysis; the use of relative risk, rather than crude incidence data, to determine toxicity ratios; the cautious use of relative biological effectiveness values derived from fitted curves; and the preferred use of relative toxicity values derived directly from the data.

Purpose: To determine the relative toxicity of alpha- and beta-radiations under conditions of controlled temporal and spatial dose distribution., Methods: Fused aluminosilicate particles were radiolabelled with either (45)Ca (a beta-emitter) or (242)Cm (an alpha-emitter). These were injected into CBA/Ca mice to give lifespan, whole-body doses of approximately 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 Gy. Most animals were entered into a lifespan toxicity study, but some were killed for radiochemical analysis and autoradiography., Results: Twenty-seven tumour types were identified. The most common malignant tumours were: Mammary carcinoma; liver carcinoma; malignant lymphoma; uterine histiocytic sarcoma. Excess relative risk (strictly hazard ratio) was higher for radiation-induced carcinomas than for sarcomas. The carcinomas, but not sarcomas showed a reduction in relative risk at the highest radiation dose employed. This reduction was most easily attributed to a systemic effect. The highest relative toxicity measured was for liver carcinoma (5.9, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 2.4, 14) and the lowest for uterine carcinoma (0.6, CI 0.03, 9.7). Overall, the excess relative risk ratio for SURVIVAL WAS 1.9 (CI 1.1, 3.2), FOR ALL CARCINOMA WAS 2.3 (CI 1.7, 3.0) AND FOR ALL SARCOMA WAS 2.7 (CI 0.72, 10)., Conclusions: The 10-fold variability in the observed toxicity ratio for different tumour endpoints shows that tissue sensitivity is a more important determinant of relative toxicity than radiation quality. The use of single radiation-weighting (w(R)) factors for radiation risk prediction and for radiological protection dosimetry is inconsistent with scientific observation.

Approximately 1800 female CBA/Ca mice were exposed by inhalation at three dose levels to beta particles from (45)Ca-labeled fused aluminosilicate particles (FAP), to alpha particles from (242)Cm-labeled FAP, or to carrier control FAP. Another group of mice inhaled no FAP and were designated as untreated cage controls. The FAP in combination with these radionuclides was used to achieve the same spatial and temporal distribution of alpha- and beta-particle dose within the irradiated mice. Some mice were killed to determine the clearance of radiolabeled FAP from their lungs, and the remainder were allocated to a life-span study. All animals were subjected to a detailed necropsy. To facilitate the identification of small tumors, the lungs were rendered transparent in methyl salicylate and examined under back illumination for the presence of lesions. Lung nodules and other microscopic lesions were excised for histological examination. The median survival of mice in all groups was approximately 910 days. The control animals lived longer than those that were irradiated, but it was difficult to determine a dose-response relationship for survival among the exposed mice. Benign adenomas and, less frequently, malignant adenocarcinomas were identified in all animal groups. The prevalence of these tumors was approximately 28.8% in the control mice, which is consistent with the results of other studies using the same strain of mouse. After exposure to radionuclide-labeled FAP, there was a significant dose-related increase in the prevalence of lung tumors in (242)Cm- (peak prevalence 55%) and (45)Ca-exposed (peak prevalence 48.6%) mice. The prevalence of tumors in the mice that received (242)Cm-labeled FAP was approximately twice that in the mice that inhaled (45)Ca-labeled FAP within the range of doses employed (0.55-4.69 Gy). Using the ratio of the slope of the linear component of the dose-response curves, the toxicity of the alpha particles relative to the beta particles was 1.5 (90% CI: 0.7, 9.0) for all adenomas and 9.4 (90% CI: 5.0, 23.0) for the less frequent adenocarcinomas. The relative toxicity for adenocarcinomas was found to decrease with increasing dose.