A single indicator of noxiousness for people and ecosystems exposed to stable and radioactive substances

Radiation-targeted immunotherapy: A new perspective in cancer radiotherapy

In contemporary oncology, radiation therapy and immunotherapy stand as critical treatments, each with distinct mechanisms and outcomes. Radiation therapy, a key player in cancer management, targets cancer cells by damaging their DNA with ionizing radiation. Its effectiveness is heightened when used alongside other treatments like surgery and chemotherapy. Employing varied radiation types like X-rays, gamma rays, and proton beams, this approach aims to minimize damage to healthy tissue. However, it is not without risks, including potential damage to surrounding normal cells and side effects ranging from skin inflammation to serious long-term complications. Conversely, immunotherapy marks a revolutionary step in cancer treatment, leveraging the body's immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. It manipulates the immune system's specificity and memory, offering a versatile approach either alone or in combination with other treatments. Immunotherapy is known for its targeted action, long-lasting responses, and fewer side effects compared to traditional therapies. The interaction between radiation therapy and immunotherapy is intricate, with potential for both synergistic and antagonistic effects. Their combined use can be more effective than either treatment alone, but careful consideration of timing and sequence is essential. This review explores the impact of various radiation therapy regimens on immunotherapy, focusing on changes in the immune microenvironment, immune protein expression, and epigenetic factors, emphasizing the need for personalized treatment strategies and ongoing research to enhance the efficacy of these combined therapies in cancer care.

Transforming Acute Ecotoxicity Data into Chronic Data: A Statistical Method to Better Inform the Radiological Risk for Nonhuman Species

Ecotoxicity data constitute the basic information to support the derivation of ecological benchmark values, whatever the stressor concerned. However, the set of appropriate data may be limited, especially with regard to chronic exposure conditions. The available data are often biased in favor of acute data from laboratory-controlled conditions, much easier to acquire. To make the best use of the available knowledge and better inform the effects of ionizing radiation chronic exposure on nonhuman species, we investigated the transposition to ionizing radiation ecotoxicity of one method proposed for chemicals to extrapolate chronic information from acute toxicity data. Such a method would contribute to enriching chronic data sets required for the derivation of benchmark values, making them more robust when used as reference values for ecological risk assessment. We developed accordingly the Acute to Chronic Transformation for Radiotoxicity data (ACTR) approach, which we validated. We introduced then the new concept of Endpoint Sensitivity Distribution (ESD). This finally allowed us to compare purely chronic and ACTR-built ESDs for different taxa. For some of them, the predicted and observed distributions looked very similar. This promising ACTR method appeared applicable with a reasonable level of confidence, but its generalization asks for improvements, some being already identified.

Radioactive waste: A review

The reviewed papers presented here provide a general overview of worldwide radioactive waste-related studies conducted in 2019. The current review includes studies related to safety assessments, decommission and decontamination of nuclear facilities, fusion facilities, and transportation. Further, the review highlights radioactive wastewater decontamination, management solutions for the final disposal of low- and high-level radioactive wastes (LLRW and HLRW), interim storage and final disposal options for spent fuel (SF), and tritiated wastes, with a focus on environmental impacts due to the mobility of radionuclides in the ecosystem, water and soil along with other research progress made in the management of radioactive waste. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate and transport in the environment poses public health concern and has stimulated recent research on the waste management techniques. Seeking a safe and environmental-friendly solution is the current trend for existing and projected inventories of radioactive waste. Significant progress in the field of geological disposal of radioactive waste has been made in the last two decades.