Senescence drives loss of salivary gland function following radiation. This image shows immunostaining for decoy receptor 2 (DcR2; brown), a p53 target gene and a marker for cellular senescence, in irradiated mouse salivary glands. Senescent cells in the ductal compartment were found in irradiated mice and also in human patients following radiotherapy. Senescence accompanies loss of function in irradiated salivary glands and is markedly IL6 dependent. Paradoxically, loss of function can also be prevented by IL6 pretreatment, suggesting a possible therapeutic approach to relieve the side-effect of dry-mouth syndrome in irradiated head and neck cancer patients. For details, see article by Marmary and colleagues on page 1170.