Skin Damage and Tumor Formation from Grid and Sieve Patterns of Electron and Beta Radiation in the Rat

Abstract

Skin tumor yields after single exposures to electron and [beta] -radiation in a uniform surface pattern were compared to grid and sieve radiation patterns at several dose levels to determine whether the incidence of tumors is proportional to the amount of irradiated skin. At dose levels that produced severe ulceration in the uniform radiation pattern, the yield of tumors from the grid radiations was approximately equal to that which was predicted by summation of the expected tumor yields at each dose level over the irradiated area of skin. However, at lower doses the grid pattern produced a delayed appearance of tumors, and the sieve pattern produced fewer than the expected number of tumors throughout the experiment. This response pattern is associated with a reduction of skin damage by the grid and sieve radiation patterns.