Theoretical Bases of the Influence of Radiation-induced Abscopal Effects on the Cardiovascular System

Radiation therapy (RT) has been recognized as an efficient treatment modality commonly utilized in
the curative or palliative management of many cancers for more than a century. Cytotoxic effects of RT
are principally eventuated by its direct infield physical DNA damage or indirect insults from reactive
oxygen species, dependent on the radiation source in use. On the contrary, radiation-induced abscopal
effect (RIAE) refers to the distant non-targeted either profitable anti-tumoral or deleterious actions of
radiation on a particular tissue, organ system, or the entire body. Although it is quite challenging to
comment robustly on the precise RIAE mechanisms, yet, it is broadly acknowledged that the non-targeted
distant effects of RIAE are chiefly mediated by the cytokines secreted from the tumor or bystander
cells into the blood circulation or by the radiation-induced systemic immunity. The present brief review
focuses principally on the rarely addressed, but likely, consequences of RIAE on the cardiovascular system
in the light of accessible proof for the proposed RIAE mechanisms.

Keywords: Abscopal effect; cardiovascular system; radiotherapy