The Late Effects of Central Nervous System Irradiation in the Monkey

Basic Mechanisms

　Basic mechanisms underlying delayed central nervous system destruction by ionizing radiation are not precisely known, but the capillary endothelial cell has been implicated by most serious students of this subject^{8,14,15,20,21,23,28,37)}. The thought has been that the cells most sensitive to radiation exposure are those still capable of replication^35,36). These include glial elements, particularly in the younger age groups¹⁹⁾, and endothelial cells in all age groups^15,25).