Preclinical studies to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy: novel insights in tumour radiosensitization and normal tissue protection

Cancer is a major global health issue, and the current available treatments are often not enough to treat the disease without causing toxicities in the normal, healthy tissues. In this thesis, we investigated how radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL), a decrease in immune cells known as lymphocytes, affects the radiotherapy and immunotherapy efficacy. This thesis shows the development of two mouse models of RIL via irradiation of blood vessels and vertebrae. While RIL did not affect the radiotherapy-immunotherapy efficacy, the immunotherapy L19-IL2 was suggested to be able to restore the lymphocyte counts.
This thesis also focused on the use of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) as a potential strategy to increase the efficacy of radiotherapy. CAPE was able to make specific lung and breast cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, while protecting healthy tissues. These findings suggest new strategies to improve radiotherapy, reduce side effects, and enhance the quality of life for cancer patients.