Effects of low doses of gamma radiation on the human body

Abstract

The link between cancer and autoimmunity is well known. However, the extent to which chemotherapy induces autoimmune responses is still unclear. Here, we quantified IgM responses to various human tissues and patient tumors before and during adjuvant chemotherapy (seven cycles of the FOLFIRI plus cetuximab regimen) with metastasized colorectal cancer. IgM levels against all tissues tested increased shortly after the first cycle and further increased in the second and third cycles. Autoimmune responses then declined during cycles four through seven, but remained above baseline for most tissues. Our results suggest that chemotherapy can induce wide-reactive autoimmune responses. Monitoring self-reactive IgM responses during treatment may help alleviate the side effects associated with autoimmunity.