Evaluation of fractionated total-body irradiation in patients with leukemia and disseminated lymphomas.

Total-body irradiation has been utilized to treat disseminated malignant tumors for more than thirty years (1, 2). In general, massive single doses (3, 4) have proved unrewarding, whereas several investigators (5, 6) have observed significant responses with fractionated dosage schedules in the chronic leukemias. In August 1964, a study to evaluate fractionated total-body irradiation was initiated at the National Cancer Institute. The preliminary results with leukemia and generalized lymphoma patients will be reviewed in this paper. Clinical Material and Results The diagnoses in 19 consecutive patients are summarized in Table I. All patients were irradiated with 2 MeV x rays from a Van de Graaff accelerator at a target-to-skin distance of 340 cm. Treatments were given alternately from the left and right sides to increase the homogeneity of the absorbed dose. The delivered doses expressed in this report were measured in air at the midline of the patient with a rate dose of 6.1 R per minute for all treatment...