Treatment of Radiation Injury.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Significance: Radiation exposure as a result of radiation treatment, accident, or terrorism may cause serious problems such as deficiency due to necrosis or loss of function, fibrosis, or intractable ulcers in the tissues and organs. When the skin, bone, oral mucous membrane, guts, or salivary glands are damaged by ionizing radiation, the management and treatment are very lengthy and difficult. Critical Issues: In severe and irreversible injuries, surgery remains the mainstay of treatment. Several surgical procedures, such as debridement, skin grafting, and local and free-vascularized flaps, are widely used. Recent Advances: In specific cases of major morbidity or in high-risk patients, a newly developed therapy using a patient's own stem cells is safe and effective. Adipose tissue, normally a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells, which are similar to those from the bone marrow, can be harvested, since the procedure is easy, and abundant tissue can be obtained with minimal invasiveness. Future Directions: Based on the molecular basis of radiation injuries, several prospective treatments are under development. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms focus on an individual's sensitivity to radiation in radiogenomics, and the pathology of radiation fibrosis or the effect of radiation on wound healing is being studied and will lead to new insight into the treatment of radiation injuries.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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