Total body irradiation with 8 MeV X-rays in generalized malignant disease

The authors describe their experience with total body irradiation (TBI) with 8 MeV-x rays in the treatment of disseminated tumors. With a dose of 125 rad, given three times with 2-week intervals, some objective remissions (6/26) were obtained, especially in patients with lymphomas. For solid tumors only subjective improvement could be achieved. The side-effects were acceptable. The authors came to the conclusion that total body irradiation may be an alternative to chemotherapy for certain cases of generalized cancer.