RESUMO
@#The rapid advances in technology and medicine have greatly facilitated the application of ionizing radiation. Clinically, radiotherapy is one of the major treatments for malignant tumors. However, besides killing tumor cells, ionizing radiation inevitably leads to radiation damage and even death of normal cells. How ionizing radiation causes cell death and the forms of cell death have always been important research topics in this field. Recently, several forms of cell death induced by irradiation have been discovered. Apart from apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagic cell death, and methuosis have gradually become research hotspots, and provide new targets for the development of radioprotective drugs and radiosensitizers. In this review, we summarize various forms of ionizing radiation-induced cell death and related molecular mechanisms. We also introduce the latest progress in radiation protection and radiosensitization based on these cell death mechanisms. This review will provide a reference for the research and development of radioprotective drugs and radiosensitizers in the future.