The Effect of Ionizing Radiation on Erythrocytes: the Study of the Effect of an Electron Beam on Blood Cells Under Model Conditions

Purpose: To study the effect of electron radiation on erythrocytes of venous blood of patients diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) and cervical cancer (CC) by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Material and methods: The objects of the study are venous blood samples (in a volume of 1 ml in test tubes) from 12 patients of the Yakutsk Republican Oncological Dispensary diagnosed with cervical cancer (7 patients) and breast cancer (5 patients), who were irradiated in stages (doses in monitoring units – 50, 100, 150 Gy) with electronic radiation based on a smallsized betatron KMB8 Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia. After each stage, blood smears were prepared from the irradiated samples on a slide, which were examined by the JSM7800F JEOL (Japan) highresolution SEM method at accelerating voltages of 1 and 2 kV. Results: As a result of the study, it was revealed that under the influence of electron radiation (ER), the morphology of erythrocytes changes, and no noticeable changes in the number of nanoscale structures (NSS), which were identified as viral particles (viruses and vesicles [1], are found on the surface of erythrocytes and in blood plasma. Conclusion: Changes in the shapes and sizes of red blood cells in large numbers, and the preservation of NSS on their surface during exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) can be considered as data objectifying the effects of ER during intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). This can contribute to the further development of IORT based on the development of new modifications of devices and approaches in planning, as well as methods for evaluating the effectiveness of IORT and predicting the condition of patients.