The link between high doses of radiation and thyroid cancer has been well established in various studies, as opposed to the effects of low doses. In this study, we investi-gated the effects of low-dose X-ray irradiation in a papillary thyroid carcinoma model with wild-type and mutated p53. A low dose of 62.5 mGy was enough to cause an upregulation of p16 and a decrease in the number of TPC-1 cells in the S phase, but not in the number of BCPAP p53-mutant cells. At a dose of 0.5 Gy, visible signs of senescence appeared only in the TPC-1 cells. We conclude that low doses of X-rays are enough to cause a change in cell cycle distribution, possibly p53-dependent p16 activation, but no significant apoptosis. Senescence requires higher doses of X-irradiation via a mechanism involving both p16 and p21.