PhD defences

30 september 2019 : Raghda Ramadan, The role of connexin-mediated intercellular communication in radiation-induced atherosclerosis

There are currently no radioprotective treatments available that have clinically been approved to be effective against potential atherosclerotic complications after breast cancer radiotherapy.

• We here provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of radiation-induced vascular endothelial damage, and identified connexin43 hemichannels as a potential therapeutictarget to suppress certain early atherosclerosis markers induced by radiation (Patent filed).

•  We identified two potential biomarkers, GDF-15 and CXCL10, that could be considered after validation studies for early detection of atherosclerosis risk in radiotherapy-treated breastcancer patients, thus identifying patients who may benefit from early medical intervention.

Ultimately, the results of this PhD will help in improving the risk assessment of atherosclerosis and would help in reducing the atherosclerosis burden in breast cancer radiotherapy patients.