RESEARCH Cytokine levels as biomark r

e a ok ce clinic which is one factor limiting the testing of effective therapeutic strategies. The current standard for measur-estimate of fibrotic disease, include radiological imaging or the use of biomarkers, such as the estimation of cyto-Westbury et al. Radiation Oncology 2014, 9:103 http://www.ro-journal.com/content/9/1/103in relation to clinical radiotherapy [4] or as a predictive2Department of Oncology, Hillingdon Hospital, Middlesex, UK Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleing adverse effects of radiotherapy, including fibrosis, is by clinical score such as Late Effects Normal Tissues — Subjective, Objective, Management, Analytic (LENT SOMA) scale [1]. However this type of clinical score often encompasses complex functional endpoints [2], for kines in blood. Biomarker assessment can also be used to relate clinical and molecular responses, which may inform about the relevant molecular pathways involved in therapeutic response [3]. Tissue is not easily accessible, and measurement in blood provides a potential non-invasive assessment as a substitute to tissue analysis. In the context of radiation fibrosis, blood cytokines have been estimated to determine patterns of cytokine releas