ReviewBritish journal of cancer2023
The 'stealth-bomber' paradigm for deciphering the tumour response to carbon-ion irradiation.
Review in British journal of cancer, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revealing the biomolecular response of glioma cells to helium, carbon and oxygen minibeam radiation therapy using synchrotron-based infrared microspectroscopy.The Analyst · 2026Article
- Perspectives on ionizing radiation and Parkinson's disease.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- Tempol Exerts Radioprotective Effects by Suppressing Radiation-Induced DNA Double-Strand Break Formation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Radiobiology Contributions and Perspectives in Hadron Therapy, With a Focus on Carbon Ions: Report From the Workshop Hadron Therapy for Life, Caen, March 2025.International journal of particle therapy · 2026Article
- Carbon ion radiotherapy and radiation-induced lung injury: clinical evidence, mechanistic insights, and future directions.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- A refined approach to compute nanodosimetric quantities for proton and ion radiotherapy treatment planning.Physics in medicine and biology · 2025Article
- NF-κB in the Radiation Response of A549 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells to X-rays and Carbon Ions under Hypoxia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- The rationale for a carbon ion radiation therapy facility in Australia.Journal of medical radiation sciences · 2024Review
- Neon ion (Cancer science · 2024Article
- Developments and challenges in neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.World journal of gastroenterology · 2023Review
- Ionization detail parameters and cluster dose: a mathematical model for selection of nanodosimetric quantities for use in treatment planning in charged particle radiotherapy.Physics in medicine and biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated the higher biological efficacy of carbon-ion irradiation (C-ions) and their ballistic precision compared with photons. At the nanometre scale, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by radiation and responsible for the indirect effects are differentially distributed according to the type of radiation. Photon irradiation induces a homogeneous ROS distribution, whereas ROS remain condensed in clusters in the C-ions tracks. Based on this linear energy transfer-dependent differential nanometric ROS distribution, we propose that the higher biological efficacy and specificities of the molecular response to C-ions rely on a 'stealth-bomber' effect. When biological targets are on the trajectories of the particles, the clustered radicals in the tracks are responsible for a 'bomber' effect. Furthermore, the low proportion of ROS outside the tracks is not able to trigger the cellular mechanisms of defence and proliferation. The ability of C-ions to deceive the cellular defence of the cancer cells is then categorised as a 'stealth' effect. This review aims to classify the biological arguments supporting the paradigm of the 'stealth-bomber' as responsible for the biological superiority of C-ions compared with photons. It also explains how and why C-ions will always be more efficient for treating patients with radioresistant cancers than conventional radiotherapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.