Radiotherapy can cause long-term skin damage in cancer patients. New research shows that radiation creates a memory in skin cells that hinders healing, but also that antibodies can help restore the damage.
Text: Ola Danielsson for Medicinsk Vetenskap nr 4 2024
Chronic wounds or thickened skin and scarring, known as fibrosis, can appear several years after treatment and can significantly impair a cancer survivor's quality of life.
- Surgery in irradiated tissue is often associated with wound healing complications. There is a great need for new treatments or preventive measures," says Martin Halle , plastic surgeon and researcher at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet.
A study that Martin Halle participated in shows that radiation leaves an "epigenetic memory" in the connective tissue cells of the skin, fibroblasts, which alters their ability to heal wounds.
In the study, the researchers analysed skin samples from 46 persons who had undergone radiotherapy for breast cancer and reconstructive surgery several years earlier. The researchers found that the ability to heal wounds was impaired in skin samples from irradiated parts of the body compared to non-irradiated skin samples ‒ regardless of how long ago the radiation occurred.
Through further experiments, the researchers were able to show that radiation leads to long-term changes in chromatin, the structures in which genes are packaged, affecting which genes are active. They also discovered that a protein called THBS1 is overproduced in connection with injuries in previously irradiated skin. THBS1 affects the motility of fibroblasts, which the researchers believe can explain the impaired wound healing.
When the researchers treated the irradiated skin samples with antibodies that block THBS1, it was found that the healing ability improved.
- The findings could potentially lead to the development of new therapies to prevent and treat skin problems that arise from radiotherapy," says Ning Xu Landén , researcher at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, who led the study.
The magazine Medical Science
The magazine Medical Science (Medicinsk Vetenskap) is published by Karolinska Institutet and targets the general public interested in medical science.
