Improvements in cancer survival mean that long-term toxicities, which contribute to the morbidity of cancer survivorship, are being increasingly recognized. Late adverse effects (LAEs) in normal tissues after radiotherapy (RT) are characterized by vascular dysfunction and fibrosis causing volume loss and tissue contracture, for example, in the free flaps used for immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy. We evaluated the efficacy of lentivirally delivered superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) overexpression and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) knockdown by short hairpin RNA in reducing the severity of LAEs in an animal model of free flap LAEs. Vectors were delivered by intra-arterial injection, ex vivo, to target the vascular compartment. LVSOD2 and LVshCTGF monotherapy before irradiation resulted in preservation of flap volume or reduction in skin contracture, respectively. Flaps transduced with combination therapy experienced improvements in both volume loss and skin contracture. Both therapies reduced the fibrotic burden after irradiation. LAEs were associated with impaired vascular perfusion, loss of endothelial permeability, and stromal hypoxia, which were all reversed in the treatment model. Using a tumor recurrence model, we showed that SOD2 overexpression in normal tissues did not compromise the efficacy of RT against tumor cells but appeared to enhance it. LVSOD2 and LVshCTGF combination therapy by targeted, intravascular delivery reduced LAE severities in normal tissues without compromising the efficacy of RT and warrants translational evaluation as a free flap-targeted gene therapy.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 73. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 September 2019.
All research outputs
#668,835
of 28,829,220 outputs
Outputs from Science Translational Medicine
#1,605
of 5,453 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#13,899
of 460,960 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science Translational Medicine
#28
of 107 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 28,829,220 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,453 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 92.6. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 460,960 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 107 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 73% of its contemporaries.
