[Pilot studies on systemic radiotherapy of organ tumors (sequential upper and lower body irradiation)]

A survey of literature shows that systemic radiotherapy, given as low dose total body irradiation, offers the same healing results in malignant systemic diseases as tumor chemotherapy. Single high dose half body doses are even effective against less sensitive organ cancers. The problem involved is the tolerance of the lung (fatal radiopneumonitis). The considerations made about the mode of action of ionizing radiation and cytostatic combinations result in clinical assays aiming at the establishment of a systemic radiotherapy based on sequential half body irradiation as an alternative to palliative or adjuvant cytostatic therapy. The advantage of this treatment would lie in the negligible subjective side effects, the great saving of time, and the moderate expense. The most important target of these pilot studies was in increase the pulmonary tolerance. 78 patients with small cell bronchial carcinomas, divided into four groups, are treated by different half body irradiation modalities: interruption of the single dose for 5 hours, small superfractionated additional doses conserving the principle of the high single dose.

the possibility to increase the tolerance dose of the lung by 33% and, at the same time, to spare the bone marrow is demonstrated. No (negative) influence of the different irradiation modalities on the different irradiation modalities on the primary tumor is found (by histological examination). The median survival times of the irradiation series are 56 to 64 weeks (for "LD" patients) which lies within the scope of modern chemotherapy results. These pilot studies confirm the efficacy of sequential half body irradiations in systemic tumor therapy. The author give some recommendations how to extend this method.