Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42181161›Full record

ArticleClinical and translational radiation oncology2026

Six-month evaluation of normal mouse brain side effects: Comparing FLASH and conventional proton partial brain irradiation.

Manuel Bernabei, Sindi Nexhipi, Elisabeth Bodenstein, Felix Horst, Armin Lühr, Jörg Pawelke, Moritz Schneider, Michael Schürer, Roman Schwarz, Antje Dietrich and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical and translational radiation oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

11 authors.

Manuel BernabeiOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Sindi NexhipiOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Elisabeth BodensteinOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Felix HorstOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Armin LührDepartment of Physics, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Jörg PawelkeOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Moritz SchneiderOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Michael SchürerOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Roman SchwarzDepartment of Physics, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Antje DietrichOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
Elke BeyreutherOncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background and purpose: Preclinical studies demonstrated ultra-high dose-rate radiation treatment ability to effectively control local tumour growth while reducing damage to healthy tissues. This methodological pilot study was designed and conducted to establish an irradiation setup and to generate data for future studies investigating long-term side effects of mouse brain irradiation with proton FLASH (FLASH-PT) and conventional proton therapy (CONV-PT). Material and methods: Fourteen C57BL/6JRj female mice were partial brain irradiated with a single dose of 22.5 Gy using a proton spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP). Mice were randomised into FLASH-PT (268 Gy/s, n = 6), CONV-PT (0.27 Gy/s, n = 6), and unirradiated sham groups (n = 2). In addition to skin reaction monitoring as short-term endpoint, regular contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed during the six-month follow-up. Brains were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded and stained to assess activation of microglia. Results: The analysis of skin reactions demonstrates a trend in tissue-sparing effect for the FLASH group. In the brain MRI, no contrast enhancement was observed after irradiation. Although no group-level differences in microglia activation were observed between FLASH-PT and CONV-PT, both treatments showed increased density of activated microglia, which was distinct in specific regions within the periventricular area. Conclusion: The established irradiation setup allowed for a clinically relevant approach to preclinical FLASH-PT research. Partially irradiated brain showed no microglia-related FLASH effect. Further studies are required to fully comprehend dose-effect curves and timing for the FLASH effect in the brain.

Indexed as

Brain FLASH radiotherapyLong-term side effectsMicroglia density

Identifiers

PMID42181161
PMCPMC13195757

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.