CRANIAL RADIATION THERAPY’S PROMINENT ROLE IN GENETIC ALTERATIONS IN CDKN2A EGFR AND PDGFRA LEADING TO SECONDARY NEUROLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES
by Saanvi S. Lavande
Category: Medicine
Abstract – Grade IV brain tumors, such as medulloblastoma and glioblastoma, account for half of all brain cancers. Glioma development is triggered by genetic alterations in genes such as CDKN2A, PDGFRA, and EGFR, and radiation therapy is often used as a treatment. However, radiation-induced mutations among the three genes above negatively influence cellular regulatory abilities, thereby leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation. This paper serves as a literature review of previous studies regarding radiation therapy for primary malignancies such as medulloblastoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and how genetic alterations induced by radiation explain secondary neurological malignancies years later.