Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40961159›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

The impact of tumor microenvironment and treatment schedule on the effectiveness of radiation therapy.

Kyprianos Dimou, Yiannis Roussakis, Constantinos Zamboglou, Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kyprianos DimouCancer Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.ORCID 0009-0000-4951-0499
Yiannis RoussakisDepartment of Medical Physics, German Medical Institute, Limassol, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0002-9367-4906
Constantinos ZamboglouDepartment of Radiation Oncology, German Medical Institute, Limassol, Cyprus.
Triantafyllos StylianopoulosCancer Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) is predominantly administered using Conventionally Fractionated Radiotherapy (CFRT), that is 2 Gy per fraction. However, Moderately Hypofractionated Radiotherapy (MHRT) (approx. 2.5-3 Gy per fraction) and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) (approx. 6-24 Gy per fraction) regimen are currently clinically investigated or even recently included in standard clinical practice. In addition, hyperfractionated radiotherapy (<1.8-2 Gy per fraction) is also clinically investigated or already used in standard clinical practices. The therapeutic effects of each of these radiotherapy schedules might depend on the degree of radioresistance of the tumor but also on properties of the tumor microenvironment, such as tumor perfusion and oxygenation. Here, building on previous work, we developed a mathematical model to investigate optimal radiotherapy treatment protocols in solid tumors. The model incorporates direct effects of radiation on cancer cells and accounts for the impact of tumor perfusion and oxygenation on the efficacy of radiation therapy. The model was able to accurately reproduce both preclinical and clinical data from different radiotherapy treatment schedules. It confirmed that greater tumor perfusion and thus, oxygenation improves treatment effectiveness by increasing the number of cancer cells killed during the treatment period. It further predicted that this effect is more pronounced for radioresistant tumors, meaning that changes in tumor perfusion of more radioresistant tumors have a greater impact on the percentage of surviving cells at the end of the treatment. The mathematical model provides mechanistic insights into the effectiveness of various radiotherapy schedules and guidelines for how modifying the tumor microenvironment to restore perfusion can affect radiation therapy.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsTumor MicroenvironmentDose Fractionation, RadiationHumansModels, BiologicalModels, TheoreticalTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID40961159
PMCPMC12443294

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Registered trials

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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.