Carbon ions Versus γ-Irradiation: The Telomeric Effect in Cancer Cells

The higher biological effect of Carbon ions hadrontherapy (C+) is explained by the nature of the DNA damages. It is known that cell response to γ-irradiation (γ-IR), but not to C+, is correlated with telomere length in different type of cancer cells. Here, we propose that this telomeric effect must result from an effect of ROS in γ-IR compared to C+.