A way to protect healthy tissue from the toxic effects of radiation treatment and also increase tumor death has been discovered by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

They found that blocking a molecule called thrombospondin-1 from binding to its cell surface receptor, called CD47, affords normal tissues nearly complete protection from both standard and very high doses of radiation, and delayed the regrowth of tumors in radiation-treated mice.