Potential Solutions in Radiation Hormesis

• Masao Takatori

  Takatori Clinic of Internal Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan

• Makoto Yagi

  Lead and Company Co., Ltd., Yokohama, Japan

• Sadao Hattori

  Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Aichi, Japan

 This study summarizes up-to-date information about the biopositive effects of low radiation treatment (LRT), radiation hormesis, and our experimental devices. In addition, we present a favorable treatment result in a patient with advanced rectal carcinoma who received LRT at home using a radon gas aspirator. The patient was a 61-year-old man who underwent proctectomy in 2010. During the additional first-line chemotherapy, apparent increases in tumor makers identified multiple remote metastases in the lung, sacrum and liver. Sacrum pain limited his activity of daily living and impeded his coming to our facility for LRT. Then, we decided to provide him home LRT using a radon gas aspirator. He inhaled radon gas for 15 minutes at least 3 times a day at home, resulting in remarkably reduced tumor markers and sacrum pain relief. He could walk, keep sitting up without support and sleep in the spine position again after receiving home LRT. No influence of radon gas inhalation on the second-line chemotherapy was observed. The favorable effects of LRT lead us to believe that the newly-developed devices will provide the clinical significance on malignant diseases. To establish the LRT regimen, further clinical investigation and data accumulation are thus called for.

Lucky TD. Physiological benefits from low levels of ionizing radiation. Health Phys 1982; 43: 771-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004032-198212000-00001

Lucky TD. Radiation hormesis. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida 1999; p. 239.

Yamamoto O, Seyama T, Ito N, Fujimoto N. Oral administration of tritiated water (HTO) in mouse. III: Low dose-rate irradiation and threshold dose-rate for radiation risk. Int J Radiat Biol 1998; 73: 535-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/095530098142086

Kondo S. Health effects of low-level radiation. Kinki University Press, Osaka. Japan Medical Physics Publishing, Madison, Wisconsin 1993.

Yamaoka K, Edamatsu R, Mori A. Increased SOD activities and decreased lipid peroxide levels in rat organs induced by low-dose x-irradiation. Free Radic Biol Med 1991; 11: 299-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0891-5849(91)90127-O

Doss M. Shifting the paradigm in radiation safety. Dose Response 2012; 10: 562-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.2203/dose-response.11-056.Doss

Takatori M, Hattori S, Yagi M. Clinical significance of low-dose radiation therapy: radiation hormesis. Int J Low Radiation 2010; 7: 511-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJLR.2010.037672

Tubiana M, Aurengo A, Averbeck A, Masse R. Recent reports on the effect of low dose of ionizing radiation and its dose-effect relationship. Radiat Environ Biophys 2006; 44: 245-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00411-006-0032-9

Tubiana M, Aurengo A, Averbeck A, Masse R. The debate on the use of linear no threshold for assessing the effects of low doses. J Radiol Prot 2006; 26: 317-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0952-4746/26/3/N01

Vilenchik MM, Knudson AG. Radiation dose-rate effects, endogenous DNA damage, and signaling resonance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006; 103: 17874-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0607995103

Feinendegen LE, Pollycove M, Neumann RD. Whole-body responses to low-level radiation exposure: new concepts in mammalian radiobiology. Exp Hematol 2007; 35: 37-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exphem.2007.01.011

• PDF