Exposure to Carbon Ions Triggers Proinflammatory Signals and Changes in Homeostasis and Epidermal Tissue Organization to a Similar Extent as Photons.

The increasing application of charged particles in radiotherapy requires a deeper understanding of early and late side effects occurring in skin, which is exposed in all radiation treatments. We measured cellular and molecular changes related to the early inflammatory response of human skin irradiated with carbon ions, in particular cell death induction and changes in differentiation and proliferation of epidermal cells during the first days after exposure. Model systems for human skin from healthy donors of different complexity, i.