EPI-CT: in vitro assessment of the applicability of the γ -H2AX-foci assay as cellular biomarker for exposure in a multicentre study of children in diagnostic radiology

AbstractPurpose: To conduct a feasibility study on the application of the γ-H2AX foci assay as an exposure biomarker in a prospective multicentre paediatric radiology setting.Materials and methods: A set of in vitro experiments was performed to evaluate technical hurdles related to biological sample collection in a paediatric radiology setting (small blood sample volume), processing and storing of blood samples (effect of storing blood at 4°C), the reliability of foci scoring for low-doses (merge γ-H2AX/53BP1 scoring), as well as the impact of contrast agent administration as potential confounding factor. Given the exploratory nature of this study and the ethical constraints related to paediatric blood sampling, blood samples from adult volunteers were used for these experiments. In order to test the feasibility of pooling the γ-H2AX data when different centres are involved in an international multicentre study, two intercomparison studies in the low-dose range (10–500 mGy) were performed.Results: Determi...