Abstract
Aim of the study was to establish an ex-vivo three-dimensional cell culture system (minorgans) for evaluation of high dose rate brachytherapy in the human bronchus. Methods Non-malignant bronchial tissue was obtained by bronchoscopy. The biopsies were cultured as described (Gamarra F et al. Eur. Respir. J. 6 (1993), Suppl. 17, 182s). After 3 weeks the acellular stroma is surrounded by multilayer respiratory epithelium. The miniorgans were then exposed to different dosages of Iridium 192 (30, 45, 60 and 75 Gy). After irradiation the miniorgans were brought back to culture or were incubated in trypsin to obtain a single cell suspension. To measure vitality the cells were incubated for I rain with acridinorange and ethidiumbromid. The percentage of nonvital cells was counted under microscopic view with uv light. Results 10 miniorgans were irradiated. There was no significant difference in vitality between the control group and the group with 30 Gy (10% nonvital cells). The percentage of nonvital cells increased significantly after 45 Gy but remained constant after 60 Gy. The maximum was after 75 Gy (25%). The reincubated miniorgans (45 Gy) were examined after 2 weeks. There were significant more nonvital cells compared to those examined three hours after irradiation (24%). Conclusion Human bronchial epithelium may tolerate higher radiation dosages. Further experiments will focus on time-depending aspects of irradiation induced cell death. This may be of importance for brachytherapy of lung cancer.
Published Version
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