EFFECTS OF ROENTGEN THERAPY ON HISTOLOGIC PICTURE AND ON SURVIVAL IN CASES OF PRIMARY CARCINOMA OF LUNG

Abstract

It is the purpose of this paper to present (a) a study of the histologic effects of roentgen therapy on primary cancer of the lung, made in an effort to determine the degree of radiosensitivity of this tumor with special reference to its different histologic types, and (b) a study of the effects of roentgen therapy on the period of survival in cases of carcinoma of the lung. The idea is prevalent in some places that irradiation is the therapy of choice for primary carcinoma of the lung. Is this view justified? In their accompanying and complementary paper Bloch and Bogardus¹ have presented evidence, based on clinical improvement and on longevity following irradiation, that such treatment is not curative. A search of the literature by them disclosed no authentic cure by irradiation. In postmortem studies I have not observed a primary cancer of the lung to which a lethal